This Might Work
by Bookgurrrl
Summary: What if the bleacher scene at the “Mash Up” ended differently? Where would they go from there?
1. Chapter 1

**This Might Work**

**Disclaimer**_**:**__ I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I just wanna take them out and play for a little while. I promise to put them back where I found them when I am done. In other words, this story is simply for entertainment purposes. While I have played in other fan fic universes, this is my first __Glee__ fic, any comments or criticisms would be appreciated._

**Authors Note**_**:**__ This takes place right before the end of Mash up. I did use the some of the dialog from the bleacher scene. Thank you Ryan Murphy. No plagiarism is intended. I always thought that they ended Puck and Rachel way too abruptly, but with the power of Fan Fic, I CAN CHANGE IT! ( he he he)Hope you like it._

…………………….

Rachel looked out at the bleachers, her heart caught a little at the look on Pucks face, part longing, and part sadness. Even though she knew that her heart belonged to Finn, she was starting to like Puck. He was lewd and crass, but he was also loyal, kind when you least expected it, and he had the softest lips, but she wanted to be honest with him. She sighed softly, and then walked over to him.

"Do you miss it?" she asked softly.

"Hell no," he replied.

"I hope you didn't choose glee over football for me," she said gently, voice shaking slightly.

"Why?"

"Because I don't think this relationship is going to work out."

Puck glanced up at her, over his shoulder and shrugged. "That's cool. I was gonna break up with you anyway."

Rachel chuckled at him softly. They had only been together for a week, but she could already tell when he was lying. "No you weren't"

"Yes I was," he reasserted childishly "You wouldn't even let me touch your boobs."

He looked out blankly to the field before him. "It's Finn right?"

He looked up at her, face softening for just a moment. "He is never going to leave her you know."

She nodded slowly, but the overly big 'Finn smile' flashed briefly. "He is too honorable. I know that as long as Quinn is with child…"

"Berry," he barked harshly, "Finn was never _going_ to leave her for you. He strings you along, sends you longing glances and freakin' puppy dog looks, but he chose Quinn." He looked at her again, horrified to see tears leaking out of the corner of an eye. He hated to see women cry, hated it.

He put a hand on Rachel's knee.

"Quinn is it for him," Puck said softly. "Has been since 7th grade, but every once in a while he gets a crush on a girl. Does the whole yearning puppy dog thing, but in the end he always goes back to Quinn."

Rachel looked down at her loafers, lip trembling, "He has done this before?"

Puck studied her for a moment, trying to decide what to say. On one hand, he didn't want to break the 'guy code,' but let's be honest; sleeping with Quinn blew that out of the water… Rachel looked so helpless and vulnerable sitting there huddled on the bleachers, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her body shook, and she jerkily wiped away the tears that silently ran down her face. _Screw the guy code,_ he thought. She needed the truth.

"It was the summer before 9th grade. Her name was Stormy Robbins, and she was the basest for a garage band that he joined for about two seconds. She was quirky and cool in an 'I don't give a shit' way and they bonded over music," he said, making finger quotations in the air as his said this, his lip curling into a snarl, "_and _the rush of being part of a band, ya know?"

Rachel nodded, her stomach dropping when she saw the similarities between her and Finn, and her and this Stormy person.

"Then, when Quinn came home from Cheer Camp, she shut that shit down, but he still made cow eyes at Stormy and did the meaningful sigh thing. Quinn got tiered of that real quick and turned up the girl heat and that was that. A few weeks later he dropped the band, and Stormy became a thing of the past. Never to be spoken of again."

Rachel looked down, sniffling lightly.

"I am not saying that he doesn't dig you or whatever Berry, I am sure he does, but the dude plans on like, marrying Quinn or whatever. Even before the baby. He has since junior high. Just thought that you should know, ya know?"

The silent tears kept falling down her face, but she looked at him and sighed sadly, but with some acceptance "Thank you for telling me, Noah. You are a jerk, but you can also be a nice guy when you are not trying so hard to be an asshole."

Puck chuckled, then punched her lightly on the knee. "Alert the news media! Rachel Berry said a 'bad word'," he jeered mockingly, but with humor.

Rachel turned her nose up at him prudishly

"I figured that I might as well speak the same language that you do Noah, even if I am deigning to stoop to your level."

"Deign!" he scoffed. "There ya go sounding like you swallowed a freaking dictionary again."

She sniffed disdainfully "An extensive vocabulary is a sign of an intelligent mind Norah, you should trying using words bigger than the four letter one!" In a fit of pique, she stuck her tongue out at him.

Again, he chuckled, "I know what you can do with that tongue baby," he leered.

"Neanderthal!"

He just shrugged at her, non-pulsed. "Whatever."

Rachel smiled at him and the knots that had been strangling her stomach since he told her about the other girl relaxed a little. She liked when she got these little glimpses of the boy without the high school artifice.

"Noah," she said softly, "maybe I was a little hasty in the original assessment of our relationship. I mean you know that I have feelings for Finn, and I know that you have feelings for Quinn, but you did sing for me, and you choose Glee over football, while Finn took the path of least resistance and chose football, and you do posses qualities that are admirable in a leading man even if you can be a colossal jerk and week couldn't possibly be long enough to accurately determine if we are really compatible as a couple, in fact according to scientific.."

"Hey, Berry. Take a breath before you pass out," Puck interrupted. "Back up the crazy for a sec, and let me catch up ok?"

He looked down at her small hand and noticed that it was shaking. Without thinking about why, he reached over and gave it a gentle squeeze. She didn't want give up on him yet. That thought pinged around in his brain.

Rachel Berry was scary and intense and abrasive, but she wanted to give him another chance despite the fact that he had been a complete ass-hat to her in the past and that they both had feelings for other people. She was nuts, but she was a hot Jew, and she had awesome lips.

"So you're saying that you don't want to break up yet?" He smiled at her softly; she sat there shaking looking venerable for a change.

"Like I previously mentioned, I may have been to quick to rush to a-"

Puck turned his body toward her and quickly kissed her to shut her up. "Just nod, Berry." He chuckled. She bit her lip and nodded her head much the same way that she had when he had finished singing _Sweet Caroline__. _Puck smiled slyly." "Will you let me touch your boobs?" he asked with a leer.

She laughed at him, and it was a pretty laugh. "We might be able to negotiate that, eventually," she said with another small laugh.

"Huh." He grunted as he stood up and started to walk away. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home." Rachel beamed up at him and quickly followed behind him. Puck reached over and took her hand. "Well, you're a loud obnoxious show tune singing pixie on crack and I am an asshole loser, but who knows this might work." He muttered softly to himself.

But apparently pixies on crack have good hearing, because she gave his hand a squeeze and murmured back, "You may be an asshole, but you're not a loser." She stretched up on her tip toes and kissed him softly on the cheek, the bounced over to his truck.

A/N 2: I have places that I want to go with this story, but it can also work as a stand alone. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two****: Let Go**

Puck took in the girly pink room as he strummed absently on his guitar. The room was the epitome of girl hell. Everything was pink, purple or a lacey white. Every available space was covered with trophies, awards, sheet music, CDs, and old dance shoes hanging from hooks on the walls. And stars. Endless stars. It was different from the other girls' rooms he had been in. There were no fashion magazines or _Twilight_ posters. Santana had about a million posters of the werewolf on her wall. _Even though she said she liked my guns better,_ he thought with a smirk, and flexed said guns by pressing harder on the guitar strings.

Unsurprisingly everything in the room was neat and organized. Rachel walked in the room balancing a tray piled with water bottles, apples, whole grain crackers and little packets of baby carrots. She smiled at him and triumphantly waved a bottle of ranch dressing.

"It was the closest thing to dip that I could find," she said, as she set down the snacks.

"Dude! You eat like a freakin' grown up," Puck said as he mockingly waved the little bag of carrots at her.

"A healthy body and a healthy mind are essential tools on the path to stardom," she said prissily and then bit into a carrot.

"Well, I'll give you the healthy body part anyway," he leered, and made a show of looking up and down her body. Rachel scowled at him and then promptly threw a carrot at him, hitting him directly in the forehead. "Nice shot," he said as he picked up the offending carrot and ate it. Rachel chuckled, studied him for a second, and then walked over to her dresser. A minute later she dropped a packet of hostess chocolate cupcakes into his lap. He looked at her in surprise. "Berry, you may have a bad side after all."

Rachel looked him deeply in the eyes, and said, "You have no idea what I am capable of Noah," and then took a big bite of the chocolate treat. Puck reflexively swallowed twice as a bolt of lust shot through his body and landed directly in his groin. He quickly grabbed a bottle of cold water and proceeded to down the entire thing.

"Will you play something for me?" She asked softly, gesturing at the guitar.

Puck quickly agreed, grateful for the distraction. "What do you want to hear?" he asked, tuning the instrument.

"Surprise me," Rachel replied. "I like listening to you sing, and even though you have not quite mastered the elusive high B, if I am really honest, I actually prefer your voice to Finns."

A blush bloomed across her face as she realized that she had actually said that out loud. Puck had to bite his lip in order to keep from smiling. He had been following in the shadow of Finn Hudson for as long as he could remember, but because he didn't think he even deserved a friend like him, he was more than happy to be in that shadow. But to be told that he was better than Finn at something besides chasing girls and being a jerk, well that was like Hanukah in July. Even if Rachel didn't mean to say it out loud.

"I told you I was badass," he smirked.

His fingers thrummed across the body of the guitar, she could almost hear the hamsters running in his brain as he tried to decide what to play, finally he shrugged his shoulders in a 'what the hell' gesture and began to play. _This may be a chick flick song,_ he thought to himself, _but I dig it, besides it reminds me of her, all intense and tightly wound all the time._ He began the tune slowly. It had taken him two weeks to translate the song from an orchestral composition, to something he could play on his guitar, but he liked the end result. He closed his eyes, lost in the music.

_**Drink up, baby down  
Mmm, are you in or are you out  
Leave your things behind  
'Cause it's all going off without you  
Excuse me, too busy you're writing your tragedy  
These mishaps  
You bubble wrap  
When you've no idea what you're like**_

Puck looked up from the guitar, an almost gentle look in his eyes as he sang.

_  
__**So let go, jump in  
Oh well, whatcha waiting for  
It's alright  
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown  
So let go, just get in  
Oh, it's so amazing here  
It's alright  
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown**_

He curled his lips into a kind smirk, his voice was low and smooth and strong for all its gentleness.

_  
__**It gains the more it gives  
And then it rises with the fall  
So hand me that remote  
Can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow**_

There was no swagger, like when he sang _Sweet Caroline_. This was not a performance; he was simply singing a song that he loved._****_

Such boundless pleasure  
We've no time for later now  
You can't await your own arrival  
You've 20 seconds to comply

Rachel closed her eyes enveloped by his voice and music as the lyrics crawled into her heart. Sad, haunting wistful and hopeful all wrapped together. Tears fell down her cheek for the second time that day, but this time they were tears of release and hope, not pain.

_  
__**So let go, jump in  
Oh well, whatcha waiting for  
It's alright  
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown  
So let go, just get in  
Oh, it's so amazing here  
It's alright  
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown**_

He finished with a flourish, and looked back down at his hands, embarrassed as he realized that he basically laid himself bare before her. Sighing, Puck cringed as he braced himself for the onslaught of cooing and gushing and other girlish displays of emotion. Rachel did none of that, she simply walked over to him, and kissed him.

Puck raised an eyebrow and leaned into her. "Wanna make out?" Rachel nodded and grinned as he pressed his lips into hers. As he deepened this kiss, she briefly opened her eyes. This time the only face she saw was his.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: He Works Hard for the Money**

_**A/N I am still getting used to the whole posting format thing so please be patient. I really have to say a big thank you to all the people that either wrote reviews or alert/favorite. Thank you so much! And yes it does make me write faster. I also have to say a big thank you to my **_**beta ****brokenfirepen**_**. You rock!**_

_**A/N2: I know that the some of the content in this chapter has been done before, but I felt that is was a necessary part of her character development, just please bare with me and we will get to the new stuff, kay? Please Review and let me know if you like where this is going.**_

Going to school when you have a boyfriend is different. Doing _everything_ is different when you have a boyfriend. For the first time since she moved to Lima, Rachel looked forward to going to school. School was normally a means to an end.

Education so she can go to Julliard and be a big star… Check. Glee club so she can showcase her talents, get discovered so she can be a big star…Check. Tolerating slushie facials, nasty roomers and apathy from her fellow glee clubbers so she can channel that angst into a future role so she can be a big star… well you see the pattern. That is what school was like for Rachel Berry. Something to be tolerated, channeled and then forgotten as soon as possible, so it was not without considerable irony that one of the biggest causes of her high school hell became the reason that school became something more. Something to be looked forward to.

The next two weeks following her almost break up with Puck, turned into an almost surreal routine. Puck would pick her up early for school in the morning, where they would sit in Puck's truck chatting or listening to morning talk radio as they ate the breakfast that Rachel always packed. _Breakfast is a key component to a healthy body you know, _Rachel would parrot, and Puck would simply kiss her quiet. Something that he did quite frequently. Puck would then walk her to class, and then they met for lunch. Sometimes they ate with their fellow Glee clubbers and sometimes they would go to the auditorium and eat as he played the guitar and she would mess around on the piano.

If they had glee club, they sat together, if not Rachel would sit at the bleachers and do homework while Puck had football practice, and if the longing glances toward Finn became less frequent Puck said nothing, he just gave Rachel his 'I'm a badass' grin when he realized that the longing looks were becoming more often then not, directed at him. After practice he would hang out at her house, they would play music, do homework (at Rachel's insistence) or they would talk and make out. During the weekend, they would hang out and watch movies. He would watch her musicals and she would watch his action movies, and they would make out. In short, for the first time in her sixteen years,, Rachel was happy.

So it was jarring when she was pulled out of her 'happy place' during glee club. Mr. Schue was lecturing them on how disappointed he was at them for their lack of regard towards Artie. Artie had called her annoying while most of the glee club nodded in agreement, they had to ride around in wheelchairs during school hours and even more disturbing Puck kept looking at Quinn. It was odd because they weren't longing looks, or puppy dog eyes.

_And believe me I am an expert at unrequited longing,_ Rachel thought. _He looks almost angry._

The couple left glee practice quietly, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. They wordlessly got into Puck's truck and began to drive silently to Rachel's house.

"Am I really that annoying?" Rachel asked suddenly, shattering the quiet inside the truck.

"I mean I know that I can be abrasive, competitive and tactless sometimes, but I am not blind. I know that if it wasn't for my talent, that no one in Glee club would even talk to me."

Puck looked over at her for a moment, and then pulled his truck into a parking lot and turned off the car. He could tell that she was upset, and he wanted to be able to pay attention to her, and not driving.

"Do you want them to? Talk to you, I mean? And be your friends?" Puck asked, as he brushed an errant piece of hair from her face.

"It is easier not to have friends," she replied "That way you don't get hurt when they turn on you. But yes, it would be nice if we were all friends. I want everything too much. I think that is part of the problem."

"Rachel, just because you want to be a star, that doesn't mean you have to let it take over your whole fucking life. Chill, have fun. Be a damn kid for a change."

Rachel forcefully plucked her hand from his, as her DIVA attitude took over. "So basically, you think that I should change my entire personality?"

Puck took a deep breath and then shook his head at her. It amazed him that someone who was as strong and smart as Rachel could be so clueless when it came to life outside of music. He pulled her into a hug, ignoring the steam rising from her small body, and placed a kiss on her scowling lips.

"Look, I am not saying that you should turn into a Cheerio clone or whatever. I think it's kinda hot that you aren't like the other chicks in Lima. But maybe you can turn down the intensity a little bit. You know have a little fun. After all you do have a total bad-ass for a boyfriend."

He kissed her again as a small smile broke though her scowl. "Seriously Rach. I am not trying to be an asshole here; I'm just being honest with you since you asked and all. If you just chilled a little, I think they would like you. The Diva, solo hogging, uber-intense thing just scares people away. You don't act that way with me when we are together and I am not afraid of you at all. In fact..." He whispered to her as he pulled her into is arms and gave a soft kiss, "I actually kind of like you."

When he was, what Rachel considered, finished with his speech, Rachel leaned across the space between them in the truck and kissed him sweetly. She deepened the kiss for a moment, then pulled away laughing.

"Only kind of?" She asked with a teasing and sly but sweet smile.

"Will you let me touch your boobs?"

Puck jumped back as Rachel smacked himon the arm. For a pixie, she packed quiet a punch. He slid back on to his side of the truck, turned on the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

"Thank you, Noah;" Rachel said softly, "I will take what you said under advisement."

"That's all I ask," he replied.

When they got to Rachel's house, he got out of the truck, opened the door for her then pulled her in to a hug. "I have some things I need to take care of today, but I will pick you up in the morning, ok?" Puck gave her a kiss then walked her to her door. When she was safely inside, he hopped into his truck and drove off. _That is one girl taken care of,_ he thought. _Now I have to take care of the Quinn situation._

He thought back to the conversation that he had with the blond cheerio before Glee that day when he tried to give her money. He had told her glibly that he had spent his pool cleaning money on numb chucks and dip, but the truth was that he had given most of his money to his mom, as he had been doing since he was old enough to work. His mother had a good job, she was an OR nurse at the hospital, but she was also a single parent, so Puck helped out.

It wasn't a lot of money. This was Ohio after all, and not California. It wasn't as though there were a ton of pools to clean, but it paid for his truck, sports fee's and his little sister Hannah's after school care. But now he needed to make real money. He had thought about selling pot or something, but that was not how he wanted to support his baby girl.

Yesterday during practice he had overheard Coach Tanaka talking to the assistant coach, and it turned out that Lima's main gardener and landscaper had skipped town with the mayor's brother. That left a brief window of opportunity for Puck.

He drove over to Lisa Garcia's house; he had seen her add for a used riding mower in the paper. She was not one of his cougar's (she was a good catholic women) but he did clean her pool.

They had a quick, but spirited bargaining session. Puck had agreed to clean her pool for free for a year and gave her $700. It was the money that he had put aside for his mother's birthday. He had considered just giving the money to Quinn, but that would only be a temporary fix, there would be more doctors' visits and such. He loaded the professional mower onto his truck, and looked at with pride. It was used, but it was powerful, and had been well taken care of.

He got into his car and drove to his house, he ran into the house and up to his room. In less than thirty minutes he was out the door again, with his newly made business cards in his pocket, he paused at the door for a moment and grabbed his Ohio State baseball hat and pulled it onto his head. _I totally rock the Mohawk, but there is no reason for me to scare away potential customers. _He thought with a smirk.

Puck loaded the rest of his gardening supplies into his truck and hit the road.

Three hours later he arrived home tiered but satisfied. He had gotten the landscaping contracts for the cemetery; the four little league baseball fields and the park that it was connected to, McKinley High school and the junior high. It wasn't an overwhelming amount of work, it would cut into some of his time with Rachel after school and Saturday and Sunday mornings were gone for the foreseeable future, but with his new business and the pool cleaning he would be bringing close to eight hundred dollars a week. That would be enough to still help is mom out, and to help out with his kid. He had already made two hundred dollars, which he would give to Quinn tomorrow. He no longer wanted to date Quinn, but he was going to take care of his daughter, even if it was only financially, even if it was never acknowledged.

He took a shower and then plopped down on his bed to rest for a little while before he got up to make dinner. It was his night. Inevitably, he thought of Rachel. He wanted to call her and tell her about his new business venture, he knew that she would approve. Unfortunately, that brought his thoughts back around to why he got the new job in the first place.

He meant what he had said in the car today, he really was starting to like her. Yes, she was a crazy star driven pixie on crack, but she was also smart and funny and they had fun together. There was no bullshit, or games like there were with other girls. He knew that he would have to tell her soon, and screw what Quinn wanted, even if it meant Rachel dumped him, but for now he would just enjoy hanging out with her.

With a small grin, he picked up his phone and dialed her number, so he could tell her about his day.

_**A/N3: Thanks again for reading. You may have noticed that each chapter title is a song title. Suggestions are always welcome.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4 Defying Gravity – Exceeding Expectations**_

**A/N 1: ** Thank you again for all the alerts and reviews. Sorry for the delay, but I will make up for it this weekend I promise. Thanks again to my super awesome and patient Beta Renee I smooshed the timeline for "**Wheels**" In my story Mr. Schue did the big lecture and made everyone ride in wheelchairs, but Kurt did not ask about Defying Gravity yet. OK. BTW a little of the dialog from Wheels was used. That totally belongs to Ryan Murphy and co.

**A/N 2**: This part has been updated, thanks to the observations of . Thank you for the review and comment.

Rachel smiled over at Puck, she thought back to last night. He had called her and told her about his new business venture. She was so proud of him and secretly relieved that he would be spending little or no time with the cougars thanks to his new schedule. They didn't get to speak for long because he had to make dinner for his family, (an admission that both surprised and pleased her.) She was even happier when he called her back a couple of hours later, once his sister was in bed

They talked on the phone for over two hours and once again to Rachel was surprised that he did his share of talking. It was as if just the act of not being able to see each other made talking easier somehow. He told her about his sister Ali, and about baseball which was his favorite sport, football was just something he was reasonably good at. They talked about music of course, school and anything else that came to mind. Rachel didn't even mind that she had gone to bed late and was unable to get her full eight hours of sleep. They were getting to know each other outside of school and glee club, and it was great. Rachel smiled at Puck, and stretched on her tip toes to kiss him.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," Puck said smugly,

"Your ego knows no bounds, Noah," Rachel replied.

"It's not ego if it is the truth."

Puck smirked. Rachel rolled her eyes at him, and then pecked him on the cheek. "I'll see you at lunch." She said and bounded down the hall.

Her skirt bouncing enticingly behind her, Puck took one last look at Rachel, and then walked toward the library. He knew that Quinn was Coach Sylvester's teacher assistant this period, but ever since the pregnancy was discovered she spent that period in the library, avoiding her former coach. After searching for her for a few minutes, he found her curled up in an old leather chair in the back of the reference section. His first reaction was to call her MILF or some other derogatory term, but she looked so tired and sad, that he couldn't bring himself to be mean to her.

"Hey Quinn," he said quietly, as he slid into the chair next to her.

"What do you want Puck?" She said wearily

"Here," he said as he handed her an envelope.

She glared at him. "I told you before; I don't need your measly twenty dollars."

"There is over two hundred dollars in there. I know that it's not enough to pay off the bill completely, but it should be enough to keep them from sending anymore bills to your house for a while, and there will be more where that came from I swear."

Quinn scowled at him. "What did you do, sell drugs? Rob the 7-11?"

"No I have a real job," he said bitterly. "I started a new landscaping business, and I already have five contracts. I manned up Quinn. I am trying to be responsible here." _Unlike Finn_ hung in air unspoken.

"If you think that a few hundred dollars would be enough to make break up with Finn and swoon into your arms, then you are sadly mistaken," Quinn snarked

"Look Quinn," Puck said, already tired of the drama. "I don't want you to do anything. Would I like to be a part of my daughter's life? Well, Yeah. But that is not up to me, is it?" He asked bitterly

."What I _can_ do, is help take care of her, even if it is only with money. I should be able to give you at least four hundred dollars a week, if not more. At least I am taking some responsibility here." He said his voice laced with frustration as he angrily ran a hand through his Mohawk.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Quinn whispered harshly.

"It means," Puck growled back, "that you walk around here bitching and blaming. Blaming me, blaming Finn, Blaming the whole damn world, when it takes two to get knocked up, and on top of all that you're making me lie to everyone..."

"Oh come on Puck, you are the one who slept with your best friend's girlfriend."

Puck gripped the edges of the chair, his knuckles turning white. "Cut the bullshit Quinn. You can pretend that you were drunk on wine coolers, but we both know the truth. You came to the party pissed off at Finn. _You_ are the one who told me that you broke up with him because he refused to quit Glee. _You_ are the one that grabbed me by the neck and kissed me, and _you_ are the one who told me that you were tired of being such a good girl all the time and that you wanted a guy that didn't have 'mailman' problems—(premature ejaculation.) That was _you_ Quinn."

Quinn jumped up and smacked him across the face "You didn't exactly turn me down, you man whore." She promptly burst into tears and dropped back into the chair, curling into a ball.

"I know I was an ass," Puck said quietly as all the anger rushed out of him. A girl crying was like freaking kryptonite

"I should have said no, I should have talked to Finn. I should have stopped drinking as soon as you kissed me. I screwed up Quinn. I know that. I know that I can't undo that night, but I'm trying to do my best here. Not because I want to get in your pants, but because it's the right thing to do. I am not a deadbeat Quinn. I refuse to be a deadbeat," he said with conviction.

Quinn looked up at him with red rimmed eyes.

"I just can't deal with all this right now. Puck, this baby takes everything out of me and I have nothing left right now. Thanks for the money, it does help, but it doesn't change anything. Finn is going to be the father of this baby, and if you say anything I will lie, and you know that he will believe me."

Quinn closed her eyes and clutched her arms tighter around her.

Just go now, ok?" Puck took one last look at her, and walked away.

~*~

The day had sucked. Puck was in a grumpy mood, and Rachel did not like being in a wheel chair. She had gotten food tossed into her face, and had to ask Puck to drive her home so she could shower and change her clothes. The good news was, that she had not gotten slushee'd in weeks; the bad news was that she no longer kept a spare set of clothes in her locker. They both barely made it back to school by the end of lunch, which meant that she didn't get a chance to eat anything. For once Rachel looked at the clock and hoped that glee would go by quickly. She kissed Puck on the cheek and sat next to Kurt.

"I have something I'd like to say," Kurt said, "I'd like to try out for the _**Wicked**_ solo."

Mr. Schuster looked at Kurt with surprise. "It has a high F in it, Kurt."

"That is well within my range," Kurt replied tersely but with pride.

"Well I think that Rachel is gonna be fine for the female lead," Mr. Shuster replied, subtly emphasizing the words 'female lead'. "But I will be happy to let you try out for something else Kurt. I'll make sure it's got a killer high note in it."

Rachel had a self satisfied smirk on her face, until she caught Pucks eye. He gave her a hard look, then waved his fingers in a circular pattern, the universal sign for 'crazy', then shook his head slowly.

Rachel took a deep breath. _Noah is right,_ she thought. _I'm doing the crazy super intense competitive thing again; I can't monopolize all the solo's even if I am the most talented. Besides, Kurt loves this song as much as I do and it's not fair to dismiss him just because it is a female part._

"Excuse me Mr. Schue?" Rachel interrupted.

"Yes, Rachel?" Mr. Schuster replied with barely restrained impatience. Rachel took another deep breath, then smiled, not a full wattage smile. She thought again, _Tone it down, remember?_

"I have an idea," she said in a softer voice "What if we performed Defying Gravity as duet between Kurt and me? In fact, the number was originally performed as such on Broadway by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth." Rachel smiled brightly, Broadway trivia was one of her talents.

"I think that our voices would sound lovely together." She said with all sincerity, which surprised everyone in the room, especially Kurt. "Not to mention that it would be another weapon in our arsenal for sectionals. Male sopranos are a very rare commodity, especially ones with Kurt's vocal range. Kurt and I can work together on an arrangement that would enhance our voices and equitably divide the song."

Everyone turned and looked at Rachel in surprise. Everyone but Puck, who smiled proudly at her and gave her thumbs up gesture.

"You and Kurt would have to work on the arrangement on your own time, because we are getting close to sectionals," Mr. Shuster said.

Kurt nodded, then reached down and grabbed Rachel's hand, giving it a quick squeeze. When she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were shiny with unshed tears. "Thanks, Rachel," he said softly.

"You deserve it," she replied. Kurt scrubbed his hand over his face, and then looked up at the Spanish teacher who was looking at him expectantly.

"Rachel and I are all over this Mr. Schue. Don't worry."

Mr. Schue nodded, and then walked over to the piano player. "OK let's take it from the top" The familiar notes of_ Don't Stop Believin'_ echoed through the choir room.

~*~

After practice, Artie waited until everyone else had left the choir room.

"Mr. Schuster," Artie began, "I want you to know that I appreciate you standing up for me, this week."

"Why, thank you, Artie," Mr. Schuster replied proudly.

"But…" Artie said gravely, "I feel like I have to point out that while you are chastising everyone else for not being respectful of me, you are treating Kurt poorly. If Rachel hadn't spoken up and offered to share the solo, you would have just let the whole thing go."

"I think that saying no to Kurt is different than," Mr. Schuster started defensively.

"With all due respect Mr. Schue," Artie interrupted, "It is still discrimination. Whether it is being in a wheelchair, or denying Kurt the chance to try out for a solo just because it is typically sung by a woman."

Mr. Schuster studied Artie for a long moment, and then blushed slightly.

"You know," Mr. Schuster began, "when I decided to become a teacher, all I could think about was how great it would be to teach my students, to expand their minds and help them become better people

He smiled then and briefly patted Artie on the shoulder. "I didn't realize that my students would also expand my mind and help me become a better teacher. You are right Artie, and I will apologize to Kurt when I see him tomorrow." "

This time it was Artie's turn to blush. "You are a great teacher Mr. Schue. I just think that sometimes we all need a little reminder to treat people better."

"You are an old soul, you know that Artie?"

Artie chuckled and began to wheel himself out of the room. "Yeah, I get that from my

Mom a lot."

Rachel walked out of the library, bumping into Artie as he wheeled himself toward the school exit.

"Hi Artie," she said with a half wave.

"Hi Rachel. Hey are you meeting Puck?"

Rachel nodded. "In a little while, Finn wanted to run some football drills with him after glee, so I am meeting at the bleachers. Why?"

Artie reached into his book bag and pulled out some sheet music.

"Can you give these to him for me? He came over to jam a couple of days ago, but left before I could give this back to him."

Rachel smiled at him softly. "I am glad that the two of you are able to share your love of the guitar."

Artie shrugged. "He brought me the music as an apology for the whole porta-potty thing. He's not a bad guy, especially when you get him away from some of those jock eggheads."

"Artie," Rachel said slowly, "I feel that I must apologize. You have always handled being in a wheelchair so gracefully that I think we have all,, myself included, taken it for granted." Rachel smiled self deprecatingly.

"I have only been in a wheelchair for a day and I don't know how you do it. You take basic things like, getting lunch, going down the hall or even," Rachel flushed red, "going to the restroom for granted. If we can't manage to raise enough money for the bus, I would be honored if you would allow me to drive you to sectionals. My fathers' car should be able to accommodate your wheelchair."

Artie smiled both please and surprised by the female vocalist. "That is really nice of you Rachel."

"I am trying," Rachel murmured softly.

The honking if a car horn grabbed their attention. Artie looked out to the parking lot, and saw his father's van.

"That's my ride," Artie said with a grin. He started to wheel off, only to turn around and call out to the petite brunette.

"What you did for Kurt today? That was really classy of you. I think that you two are really going to rock it!"

Rachel smiled and nodded, unable to speak. She wasn't used to getting compliments from classmates. "I'll see you tomorrow Artie," she called as she walked toward the bleachers.

_**A/N 2**__ I hope you liked it. OK here is a little blackmail my pretties…if I get enough reviews; I will post the second part of chapter 4 today. He he he (insert evil laugh here.)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4B ****Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word**

**A/N 1**: This takes place directly after Rachel's conversation with Artie. Timeline wise they are the same chapter, but since this part was long, I felt I had to break the parts up. Thank you to everyone who took time to review or put me on Alerts. I promised the next part, so here it is. Thanks again! Whoo hoo!.. A special thank you for my awesome Beta. You Rock!

Rachel walked out to the football stadium. She paused a moment when she spied the blond pregnant ex-cheerleader sitting on the bleachers. _Kurt and Artie are nothing compared to Quinn. God must be laughing at me today_, Rachel thought wearily. Speaking to the blond was so not on her list today, especially not the conversation that she know that she has to have. _You can do this, you can totally do this._ The voice in her head chanted. She was only a little disturbed that the voice sounded like Puck.

She walked over to the blond girl and sat down next to her.

"Hi Quinn," Rachel said perkily, compensating for her nervousness.

"What do you want Man-Hands?" Quinn replied tersely. Rachel flinched at the nick name, but she straitened her back and continued anyway.

"I have been thinking about your situation lately, and I think that I may be able to help you."

"Why would you want to help me?" she snapped.

Rachel took at deep breath and studied the former cheerio. She had thought long and hard about this, and she knew what she had to do, Even if she didn't want to, Even if it was humiliating.

"Well for one, we are both in Glee, a part of a team, and team members stick together." _Even if they would rather not_, Rachel thought as she clenched her hands and continued. "Secondly, I feel that I owe it to you, starting with an apology."

Quinn turned to look at her confusion evident on her face.

"I pursued Finn, flirted with him. Even though I knew he had a girlfriend," Rachel said, her face flushing red with shame. "I acted selfishly and I was disrespectful to both you and your relationship."

Quinn continued to stare at her, and then sighed. "I haven't exactly been nice to you Rachel. In fact, I have kinda made your life Hell. I have given you no reason to respect me or my relationship with Finn."

Rachel shook her head roughly.

"That is irrelevant. What I did was still wrong, and I am sorry. I know that I am new to this whole 'relationship' thing, but if a girl behaved toward Noah…I mean Puck, the way I behaved toward Finn, I would be furious and we have only been dating a few weeks. If we had been together as long as you and Finn, I think that I would be positively homicidal."

Rachel was surprised to realize that tears were running down her cheeks. She was so busy rubbing the tears away, that she didn't see Quinn flinch when Puck's name was mentioned.

Rachel rifled through her purse, pulled out a tissue and whipped her eyes.

"Anyway," Rachel continued shakily, "I really am sorry. Please believe me when I say that I will never act inappropriately toward Finn again."

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a manila folder and a Cheerios uniform.

Quinn looked at the uniform curiously.

"As I stated before," Rachel continued, "I have given a lot of thought to your situation and I would like to help."

Rachel looked expectantly at the blond, once again unsure if Quinn would even listen to her. Quinn studied the crazy brunette unable to guess what was going to come out of her mouth next. Curiosity got the better of her.

"Go ahead, explain," Quinn said cautiously.

Rachel nodded.

"The studio where I take my dance lessons also offers gymnastics classes. A couple of days ago, my teacher mentioned that the advanced gymnastics classes were beginning to fill up, which was great, except that meant her gymnastics teacher was going to over booked. She asked me if I knew anyone qualified, who would be willing to teach a few beginning gymnastic classes a week. I told her about you, and how you were a nationally ranked cheerleader, and how you were the best tumbler on the squad."

Rachel handed the stunned girl the manila folder.

"All of the information is in there. I hope you don't get to angry with me, but I also told her about the other part of your situation." Rachel held her hand out to the enraged blond as if to hold her off, "Just hear me out Quinn. I wasn't being reckless, I swear. Elena, she is my dance teacher, she also owns the dance and gymnastics studio. Anyway, Elena has a twelve year old daughter, and I know from pervious conversations with her that she had her when she was still in high school. She was only sixteen or seventeen, so I knew that she would empathize with your situation."

"Rachel, you had no right," Quinn began angrily.

"She wants to meet you Quinn," Rachel interrupted. "Elena said that she understands, because she has been there before, and the baring anything unforeseen, that you have the job if you want it. She understands the need to be discrete Quinn. She won't say anything to anyone. I trust her and I know you think I shouldn't have said anything but like I said, I want to help you, and the job is perfect for you," Rachel continued breathlessly. "The classes that you would be teaching would be for children between the ages of 3-7. Your pregnancy won't be an issue because at this level all you would have to do is teach them balance and basic tumbling and such. You can be mad at me if you want to," Rachel continued stubbornly, "But you could use someone to talk to, someone who has gone through what you are going. Besides," Rachel said in a lecturing tone,

"You have been so stressed about money lately. I was there as a 'witness' when you yelled at Finn remember? All that stress can't be good for the baby. Even if I don't like you very much, I certainly have nothing against your unborn child."

Quinn's face softened, and then crumbled completely, feeling a fresh wave of guilt. First Puck steps up and gives her money for the baby even though she has been nothing but horrible to him. Then to make matters worse, his girlfriend, a girl that she had spent the last three years teasing and ridiculing not only apologizes, but she also finds her a job doing something that she loves.

Rachel scooted closer to Quinn and patted her knee comfortingly. This only made Quinn cry harder. After what seemed like forever, Quinn began to pull herself together. She looked up and gratefully accepted a small package of Kleenex from Rachel.

"Thanks," Quinn said softly.

"Anytime," Rachel replied.

"I don't get it." Quinn whispered shakily. "Why would you go to so much trouble for me? You said that you aren't interested in Finn anymore and I believe you. So you aren't trying to get on his good side. '_Not that you really have to try'_ she thought bitterly, her boyfriends' fascination with Rachel was still a major bone of contention between the two

"After everything that I have done to you, you should hate me." Quinn stated wearily.

"I do," Rachel replied. "Sometimes, I really do hate you, but you are in an untenable situation and I figured that you could use the help. Even if it came from me. Besides," Rachel said with a wicked grin, "I love having the moral high ground."

"Good to know that you're not perfect," Quinn said sincerely, but somewhat evilly.

"Hardly," Rachel replied. "I can be very single minded, even vicious when it comes to getting what I want, especially if it has to do with my career. But I also know what it feels like to be an outsider, to be ostracized. I wouldn't want that for anyone. Anyway," Rachel said, changing the subject, "Elena is really great; I think that you will really like her. She said that she would like to meet you tomorrow after school if you are available. Her cell and phone numbers are in the folder. That brings me to the last issue."

Rachel picked up the Cheerio uniform and handed it to Quinn.

"I overheard you telling Finn, that your mom was beginning to question shy you weren't wearing your Cheerios uniform anymore, and why you didn't stay at school as late as you used to for practice. I liberated the uniform for you from the gym storage closet."

Rachel blushed at the mention of her thievery.

"You can wear it while you teach the gymnastic classes. I am told that little girls love the costume. You would be finished with your classes at around the same time you would have finished with cheerleading practice. You could wear it home and your mom would be none the wiser."

Quinn looked at Rachel with new found respect. "You are better suited for Puck than I thought."

"I can be devious when the situation calls for it," Rachel said with a smile.

The ringing of a cell phone interrupted the girls. Quinn looked down at her phone and quickly read a text. "That was Finn." The blond put the folder and the red and white uniform in her bag. "Thanks for the job Rachel, the uniform," Quinn's voice hitched, "and the apology."

"You are welcome," Rachel said warmly as she watched the blond carefully make her way down the steps.

"This doesn't make us friends," she called over her shoulder. "But I won't call you Man-Hands anymore."

"That's a start!" Rachel called after her.

"That's a start," Quinn muttered as she walked toward the locker room. A smiled curled onto her lips. For the first time in a long time she felt hopeful. And it was all because of Rachel Berry. What the hell was this world coming too?

Rachel smiled as she watched Quinn walk away. It was hard, but she was glad that she had talked to the blond.

"You're a pretty cool girl, Rachel," a strong, masculine voice called out from behind her.

Puck appeared from underneath the bleachers, a tender smile on his face.

"How much of that did you hear?" Rachel asked, blushing furiously as she busied herself with her book bags so she didn't have to look him in the face.

"I heard enough to know that you are a better person than anyone has a freaking right to be," he said gruffly. "And enough to know that I don't really have to worry about Finn anymore."

"Of course not!" Rachel replied with an exasperated sigh, looking up at her boyfriend. It was then that she noticed that his left eye was turning into a mottled shade of purple.

"I can't believe you stole a cheerios uniform," he snarked, trying to distract her from his eye. It didn't work.

"Noah, what the hell happened to your eye?" She exclaimed as she hurried over to him

"You said hell," he teased.

"Noah!" He shrugged and put his arm around her waist.

"Finn."

"Finn!" She yelled, as a look of murderous rage came over her normally pretty face.

"Calm down, Kujo," he said as he tightened his grip on her waist.

"He said it was an accident. It happened while we were running drills."

Even though Puck had wondered, especially after their wheelchair fight in the hall earlier that day. "Its okay, Rachel," he continued. "Accidents happen all the time, besides he has been so pissed lately with Quinn riding him and all…So if he needed to vent all this bullshit on me, so be it."

Puck shrugged, knowing that it was mostly guilt talking. He looked over at his girlfriend touched that she was so pissed off on his behalf. _Crap, I'm turning into a girl._ He thought. But the truth was that he _liked_ having Rachel as a girlfriend. He was glad that she was over Finn_. I can't believe that she went out of her way to help Quinn like that, especially since Quinn has been nothing but a major bitch to her_.

His stomach twisted as he looked at his girl. He knew that he was going to have to tell her about the baby soon, even if she ended up hating him in the end. She deserved that. _Hell, she deserves everything,_ he thought uncharacteristically. _The least that I can do is to tell her the truth._ He pulled her into a long hug, and then kissed her deeply, almost desperately. When they finally pulled apart, she looked at him worry evident in her face.

"Noah," she said, stroking his cheek gently. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah babe, I'm fine," he said a little gruffly, "I think I'm just hungry, we both missed lunch today. Let's go to Sonic, that way I can get some ice for my eye and a chili cheeseburger." She studied him, and then stepped up onto a bench so that she was taller than him for a change, then she bent down and kissed his bruised eye.

"There, all better. Now we can go get ice. Besides," she said with as grin, "I want a milkshake." Puck picked her up and lifted her off the bench, back to safe ground.

"I thought that milk was bad for your vocal cords or some such crap." Puck said as they walked towards his truck.

Rachel squeezed his hand and smiled. "I'm splurging, I think I deserve it. Don't you? Besides you keep telling me that I need to act like a teenager more often."

"You do," he replied as he pulled her into him and proceeded to kiss her senseless. "You really do."

**A/N 2**: Fellow Gleeks I need your help! I need a little info for the next chapter. Can anyone tell me what Rachel's Dads professions are? Thank you, thank you and don't forget to tip your waiter (review).


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5 _Everybody Hurts_**

**A/N1: ** _Sorry for the posting delay. Sick, sick, everyone was sick. I'm back on track now so thanks for the patience. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and alerts. Whoohoo! Special thanks to my awesome beta Renee._

Rachel's fingers glided gracefully across the piano keys as she played the final section of Defying Gravity. Kurt's voice blended masterfully with Rachel's as they sang the last note. Their voices resonated purely and powerfully through the auditorium, it was so full of longing that it was almost achingly beautiful. Impulsively, Rachel gave Kurt a one armed hug and grinned at the boy proudly.

"That was perfect!" She beamed as she made a notation on the sheet music. "This last week of extra practice has really paid off. We should be able to give it to Mr. Schue on Monday." Rachel was interrupted by the sound of clapping. Kurt and Rachel turned toward the back of the auditorium and saw Tina, Mercedes and Artie walking toward them.

"That was great!" Tina called. "Kurt you so nailed it!"

"You have pipes boy," Mercedes added.

Arties smiled at Rachel, "It was beautiful, Rachel."

Mercedes nodded dismissively. "Yeah, but Kurt was freaking amazing. So Mr. Diva, are you ready to party or what?" Mercedes asked as she grabbed Kurt's bag. Rachel looked questioningly at Kurt.

"It s nothing," Kurt said nonchalantly "Artie's parents are out of town for the weekend, So Mercedes, Tina and I are going to stay over and keep him company"

"I think Britney might come over too," Tina added obliviously.

Rachel pasted on a big smile, but not before a look of hurt flashed over her face. "That's great," Rachel said with false cheer. "I hope you guys have fun."

Artie frowned for a moment. Because Artie noticed everything, he had seen the hurt look on Rachel's face. Impulsively he rolled over to her.

"Rachel you can join us if you want to," Artie said softly.

"She probably has other plans," Kurt said hastily.

"Yeah, like updating her my-space page," Mercedes snarked, giving Rachel a look of distaste.

"Mercedes!" Artie snapped angrily. Kurt looked over at his wheel chaired friend in surprise. Artie was pissed, and Artie rarely got pissed.

"What Ms. Thing meant to say," Kurt covered smoothly, "was that we assumed that you had plans with tall, mow-hawked, and handsome."

"Yeah," Mercedes huffed.

"I do," Rachel said softly then she stared at Mercedes, "but it would have been nice to be included." Rachel gathered the rest of her things, wanting to make a hasty exit.

"I am sorry, Rachel," Tina said. "It's just that you don't normally go out with us."

Rachel turned on the girl and smiled sadly, "That's because you never asked me, even before Noah and I started dating."

"You're right," Artie said as he rolled over to her and patted her hand. "I'm sorry. We _have_ treated the jocks and cheerios better than we've treated you, and you never threw us in the dumpster or tried to lock me in a porta potty."

"It's just that you can be so damn annoying Rachel," Mercedes said defensively.

"And you can be a super competitive bitch," called a voice from the back of the room. Puck strode up to Rachel and kissed her tenderly on the mouth. "You ok?" he whispered softly in her ear.

Rachel nodded, then took a breath and turned back to Mercedes. "While I disagree with Noah's unfortunate choice of words, the sentiment is still true. Despite the fact that we are all basically in the same social position, you have all been either mean or derisive since I transferred here, so I reacted by being even more…" She pondered for a moment trying to think of a word.

"By turning up the crazy," Puck supplied, grinning wildly.

"Something like that," Rachel agreed. "I had hoped that things would change when we got new members, but if anything, it got worse."

Kurt studied the small brunette. "You seem to be calmer lately, and you shared the duet and everything."

"You haven't had a diva storm out in weeks," Artie added.

Kurt nodded and then continued. "You have always been cool, if not a little over enthusiastic about the gay thing." His eyebrow rose, as something connected in his brain. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about, Kurt?" Rachel enquired, still keeping her cool.

"The day after I came out to my dad he got a phone call. He never gets calls at home. He was on the phone for a long time, and afterward, he tried to talk to me. He wanted to make sure that I was ok, and that I didn't want to, like, hurt myself or whatever. The person on the phone was one of your dads wasn't it?"

Rachel nodded. "It was Daddy. Lima doesn't exactly have a large gay community. I overheard you telling Mercedes about your revelation to your father, and I thought that he could use an adult perspective. He might have been a little heavy handed about the suicide statistics, but I think that goes with the territory of being a doctor. I have been trying," Rachel said, looking at Noah. He smiled at her, and turned to glare at the others.

"Thanks again Rachel," Kurt said, as Mercedes just glared.

The brunette walked to the other girl, and said softly so only she could hear. "I'm not trying to take your best friend away, Mercedes. I just wanted…anyway. "

"I know," Mercedes murmured. "Maybe we could all start over," the girl said more loudly. Everyone nodded and smiled.

"OK," Puck interrupted, "We need to go before this turns into a love-fest, ready Rach?" Rachel nodded then waved at the group.

"Hey Rachel?" Tina called, "We are all going to the Mall on Monday after school, if you want to go?"

Rachel smiled at her new friends as she took Noah's hand. "That sounds great; I'll talk to you on Monday." The couple walked out of the building. "Thank you, Noah." She stopped walking and pulled him into a kiss. "Thank you for defending me…"

"You let them off easy," Puck replied.

"Isn't that what friends do?" Rachel asked, smiling.

"Yeah it is," Puck murmured softly, hoping that she would do the same for him when the time came.

Puck jerked awake, looking around a little franticly until his brain registered that there was a body cuddled up next to him. He smirked, and then kissed Rachel softly on the head. He was not the only one who had fallen asleep during the movie. Rachel made a little snuffling/snoring sound that he found adorable despite himself. He softly stroked her hair as he thought about the last few weeks. He was glad that Rachel had changed her mind that day at the bleachers, to his surprise he really like having Rachel as a girlfriend. He even liked her Dads.

_I can't believe we did the whole family dinner thing last night and I didn't run away screaming_, Puck thought with a smirk.

Yesterday, after he had rescued Rachel from the gleeks in the auditorium, they had both had dinner with her dads. While they had gotten used to the Pucks frequent presence at the house, this was the first time they had actually spent time together without a movie or football game on as distraction. Puck actually liked Rachel's parents. Rachel's dad, Isaiah, the lawyer had played both baseball and basket ball in high school and college, so they always had something to talk about. He was a mellow laid back guy, that didn't talk much, but when he did, you wanted to listen.

Rachel's daddy, David, was a lot like Rachel. He was a doctor, and he was a good guy, he didn't judge Puck, despite the fact that he knew about his reputation. He had the same talkative intensity that Rachel had; it was obvious how much they cared about her, even if David did have a bit of a stage dad thing going on.

Puck closed his eyes and debated falling back asleep. His sister was away at Girl Scout camp and his mom was working the night shift so he didn't have to be home at a certain time. He was tired from working all day, but the new landscaping business was going well, and he even added another contract, but that meant that he had gotten up early and had worked a 10 hour day, but that also meant he had been able to give Quinn another four hundred dollars this week. The talk that Rachel had with Quinn must have triggered something, because while she had not changed her mind about the baby, or was even nice to him, they were at least civil, and Quinn seemed happier now that she had started her new job. Puck tightened his grip on Rachel and started to drift off to sleep.

A short while later, the ringing of his cell phone woke the couple up. Puck groggily reached for the phone, frowning when he saw that it was from his mom. She rarely called when she was at work. He got up and walked into the other room to answer the phone. Rachel sat upright on the couch, stretched, then walked into the kitchen. Her dad was in there fixing an after dinner snack.

"Hey, kitten," Isaiah said, "You two fall asleep in front of the movie again?"

Rachel blushed, nodded, and then opened the refrigerator to get a bottle of water. "Noah had a long day at work and I was up early because today was my volunteer day with daddy at the hospital. If it wasn't for Noah's cell phone, I probably could have slept all night."

As if saying his name had summoned him. Noah walked into the kitchen his face pale and lacking his normal self assured smirk. Rachel immediately walked over to her boyfriend and put her arms around him. "Noah what happened?" Rachel asked as Isaiah guided the kids out of the kitchen and into the living room where they could sit down.

"That was my mom," Puck said shakily "My grandparents were in a car accident and they are both in pretty bad shape. She is taking the last flight out tonight, to be with them."

"If you can find out what hospital they are in, I'll try to find out how they are doing for you," David said from the doorway, having walked in a few moments ago. "Why don't you stay in the guest room tonight, Noah, that way you don't have to be alone in your house tonight? Unless you want to be alone," he added hastily.

"That would be great, thanks," Puck said, "I will have to leave first thing in the morning though, I have to drive up to Piedmont, where Ali's Girl Scout camp is and pick up my sister. My mom arranged for her to catch a flight with my Aunt in Columbus, so I told her that I would pick up Ali and drop her off at my Aunts house."

"You aren't going to fly with them?" David asked.

"I told my mom that I wanted to go, but she doesn't want me to miss a week of school and I have a football game this week." Puck shrugged. "I still wanted to go, but she gave me a lecture about honoring my commitments and such and needing me to look after things here. If it looks like they won't make it, I can always catch a plane from here."

Rachel turned to look at her parents, a look of solid determination in her face. "Dad, Daddy, it is a five hour drive to Piedmont, and then two and a half hours back to Columbus. I would like to go with him please. I don't think that he should drive that distance by himself."

Her parents looked at each other, communicating in the wordless way that only people who had been married for years could. They knew what their daughter was like when she had her mind set, and while Rachel was known as a 'good girl' her parents knew that if they said no, she would probably go anyway and deal with the consequences when she got home.

"I would prefer it if you took Rachel's car, Noah. It is newer and gets better gas mileage then your truck," David stated and Isaiah nodded then continued.

"We want you both to call and check with us periodically, so charge your cell phones tonight and…" Isaiah cleared his throat nervously, "…we would prefer that you two get separate rooms on the way back. As much as this goes against every father gene I have to say this, we would rather pay for hotel rooms for the two you, than have you drive through the night exhausted. We will call in to the school for both of you on Monday."

Puck looked dumfounded at each of the Berry's. Without warning they had all swooped in and taken charge of things. He realized that Rachel came by that trait honestly, but he didn't care. For once he was glad to have someone else take charge. It was going to be hard enough as it is, and he was grateful to have Rachel with him.

He gave Rachel and big hug. "Your parents are kinda bad ass," he said softly.

"I know," she replied as she got up and hugged both of her parents, whispering thanks in their ears. "Come on we should both get to bed, we have a long day ahead of us, and we will have to stop off at your house tomorrow and pack a bag for your sister before we even get on the road." Puck nodded, following her to the guest room. She stopped at the door kissed him then started to walk to her room.

"Rachel?" Puck called. She turned and looked at him. "I'm glad I have a bossy girlfriend."

Rachel smiled, "Good, then get some sleep." Puck chuckled, plugged in his cell phone, and crawled into bed.

A/N2: _Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If anyone is interested I had mental pictures of Rachel's dads. Dad __Isaiah is Preston Burke from Grey's Anatomy and Dad David is Hank Lawson (add 10 years) from Royal Pains. Please remember to tip you waitress (review people) and I'll try to have chapter 6 to you this weekend._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6 **_**Real Gone**_

_**A/N:**__ I am back, sorry for the delay in posting. Real life has been kicking my ass, but it is getting better now. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and altered me. I appreciate your patience. Now on with the show, hope you enjoy it. This is un-betaed all mistakes are mine._

Rachel woke up at six. She took a shower, ate a quick breakfast, then sat down at the kitchen table with a pen and pad of paper and began to make a list of everything that they needed to do for the trip. Rachel was a very big believer in making lists. Once she was done she went back up stairs and packed an overnight bag, then went back down to the kitchen and packed a small cooler full of bottled water and snacks for the drive. Puck was sitting at the table finishing a bowl of cereal, and looking over a Google maps print out of their trip to Piedmont. Rachel leaned down and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Good morning" she whispered in his ear. Puck looked up at her, smiled and then wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a proper kiss. "Good morning" he replied.

Just then, Isaiah and David walked into the room. Isaiah was carrying Rachel's car keys and David had their cell phones and chargers.

"I changed your oil and checked all the fluid level's in your car, and filled it at the gas station, so the car is ready to go, daddy has your phones and chargers so you should be able to stay in touch. We don't expect you to call every ten minutes, but we would appreciate it if you checked in every once in a while."

Isaiah smiled as he saw his daughter bite her bottom lip in frustration, he knew that she had a list that she was following and was probably inpatient to get on the road.

"I know that you want to get going Kitten, your Daddy and I just wanted to get the boring parental stuff out of the way." Isaiah reached over and gave a stack of money to his daughter. "Here is some cash for food or whatever, I have also transferred some money into your bank account, you should be able to use your debit card for the hotel rooms."

Rachel got up and hugged her father, he knew that he was worried and "fixing" things was how he dealt with that worry and stress. "Thanks Dad, Noah and I will be just fine I promise, we are only going to be gone for two days. I know that you are placing a tremendous amount of trust in me Dad, in both of us really, and I won't let you down."

She kissed both of her parents again. "I love you both," She said softly. "Thank you for letting me go with Noah, it means a lot to me."

Puck got up and shook both of the men's hands.

"Thank you." Puck said nervously "I'm used to doing things on my own, so your help, all three of you, means a lot. Thanks for letting Rachel come with me, it will make getting Ali much easier. She will be so excited to see Rachel that she won't have time to worry about the other stuff."

He looked at Isaiah, and straitened his back. "I promise to take care of Rachel, sir. I won't let anything happen to her."

Isaiah nodded, and then laughed as his daughter turned and kicked her boyfriend in the shins.

"Not that she can't take care of herself." Puck growled as he rubbed the hurt limb. Years of dance lesson gave Rachel very strong legs for such a small person.

Everyone chuckled, effectively lightening the mood. Rachel hugged her parents again, kissed Puck and then ran up stairs to get her stuff so they could get on the road.

Twenty minutes later they had loaded the car, made assurances to her parents, said their goodbyes and were ready for the next stop.

Puck unlocked the front door to his house, opened the door and let Rachel in. Rachel had only been in his house a handful of times, and never for long, clutching her list in her hand she made her way to Ali's room.

"Noah, if you show me where Ali's suitcase is, I'll start packing a bag for her and you can get what you need."

Puck nodded, then jogged off in the direction of the garage, a few moments later he came back with a pink wheeled suitcase. Rachel nodded approvingly, opened it on the bed, and began to get to work. Puck shook is head, once again amazed at her ever present energy and focus. He bent down and kissed her then went to his room to pack a few things, and to call his mom.

Rachel crossed another item off her list as she finished packing, "Noah," Rachel called "Does Ali have a favorite toy or stuffed animal that we can pack for her?"

Puck walked into the room cell phone in hand, and took a worn stuffed elephant of her bed and handed it to Rachel.

"I love you too mom." Puck said gruffly into the phone. "I'll call you again once we have Ali." Puck smiled briefly "Yes mom I'll tell Rachel that you think she is an Angel, OK gotta get on the road, kiss Bubby for me, ok bye." Puck slung his gym bag over his shoulder, "Ready to go?" Rachel nodded.

They locked up, put the bags in the trunk and hit the road.

"How are your grandparents doing?" Rachel asked softly.

"My Bubby is doing much better this morning. She has a fractured hip, a broken wrist and a minor concussion, but she woke up bossing nurses and bitching at the doctor so that is good. Zeyde had to have emergency surgery for internal bleeding or some such shit, and he hasn't woken up yet, the doctors are "cautiously optimistic" what ever the hell that means."

Rachel reached across the seat and took Puck hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "They will both be ok Noah, I really believe that. How is your mom holding up?"

"She's doing better, I think just being there helps. She'll feel better once Ali and my Aunt get there and there's one less thing to worry about."

"What, No Yiddish name for your Aunt?" Rachel teased.

Noah just smiled, "No she's just Aunt Sadee. My grandparents are the only ones who speak Yiddish. Although Zeyde taught us kids how to swear in Yiddish that was cool. We have always called them Bubby and Zeyde.

Rachel smiled, happy to talk about something light.

"I have a Bubby too, my Zeyde died when daddy was a teenager. She lives in New York and is partly responsible for my love of Broadway and all things musical. She took me to my first play, my first musical and my first ballet. I always spend a part of the summer with her, and we see a lot of theatre, go to museums and things like that. My other grandparents are the opposite. Nanna and Pappa are from Baton Rouge Louisiana. My Nanna is teaching me how to cook and garden, and Pappa is the one who taught me how to play Piano. I miss all three of them, but I always look forward to the summers."

"Ali normally spends the summers with my grandparents, which is part of the reason my mom wants her there, she is really close with them, and she didn't want me to have to look after Ali the whole time my mom is gone." He replied.

"Not that I couldn't." Puck added. Helping raise his sister was always a point of pride with him. It was part of the reason why he was so pissed with Quinn. He wasn't a dead beat, or a Lima Loser.

Rachel noticed the scowl that had crossed his face; she leaned over and kissed him.

"I know that you can take care of your sister Noah, your mom does too. You're a good guy Noah Puckerman." Rachel said softly as she leaned her head on his shoulder and yawned.

"Thanks Rach." Puck murmured. "Why don't you close your eyes for a little bit, knowing you, you got up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning." Rachel nodded sleepily, and then curled up on the seat. She drifted off to sleep, still clutching his hand.

- ~ -

The trip to Piedmont was pretty uneventful. Rachel slept for about an hour, and Puck was grateful for the silence. There was a lot of shit pinging around in his head and the silence gave him time to work shit out, the last 24 hours had been insane.

It was only when he caught himself staring at her while she was sleeping for the fifth time that he came to the realization that he really cared about Rachel. It wasn't just that she was now the longest relationship that he'd ever had, but that he was crazy about her and that freaked him the fuck out.

He was a badass, Cougar chasing stud, and he was nuts about bat-shit crazy Rachel Berry. He knew that the time had come, after they picked up Ali and dropped her off at the airport; he was going to tell Rachel about the baby. He couldn't _**not**_ tell her anymore, and at least they would be alone. Oddly, once the decision was made, he felt better. It might blow up in his face and she could end up hating him or kill him and dump his body on the side of the road or something, but at least it would be out there.

The drive to the mountains was nice. They chatted about school and music and sports, and listened to music. Rachel liked having Noah all to herself, and she enjoyed the pretty scenery of the mountains. They made it to the Girl Scout camp ahead of schedule, and had no problems picking up the little girl. As Puck had predicted, Ali so was excited to see Rachel that she didn't even question why her brother was picking her up from camp three day's early.

The two girls chatted and sang the entire ride to Columbus. Ali regaled Rachel with stories of camp, and Rachel listened patiently occasionally adding her own camp experiences. The time flew by, and couple of hours (and several parental phone calls) later, the trio was at the Columbus Airport. They had a nice, but rushed meeting with Aunt Sadee. Ali hugged both Puck and Rachel, and then left with her aunt, anxious to see her mom and grandparents.

Puck pulled Rachel into his arms after waving goodbye to his sister.

"Thanks for coming with me Rachel." Puck said holding her tightly.

"Thanks for letting me." Rachel replied softly, kissing him. The couple was interrupted by the grumbling of Rachel's stomach. Puck chuckled, and then pulled his girlfriend toward the airport exit. Come on; let's go check into the hotel, then we can go get something to eat.

Rachel smiled and followed him out of the airport, looking forward to spending the evening with her boyfriend.

_**A/N2:**_ _There you go my pretties I hope that you liked it. The big reveal is next. Don't forget to tip your waitress (review). In fact if I get enough reviews I will post the next chapter that is almost finished. Thanks again._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7 _And I am Telling You I'm Not Going_**

**A/N: **_You all rock!! Thank you, thank you for the lovely reviews and alerts and such. You asked for it so here it is. This is un-betaed because I wanted to get it out, any mistake are mine._

Puck pulled out of the airport parking lot and headed downtown toward the hotel when a billboard caught his eye. _The things I do for my girl_, he thought as he typed the number in his phone. He looked over at Rachel, relieved that she was engrossed in her phone conversation with her dads, he quickly made his plans, and smiled as he hung up the phone the same time that she did. A little while later, he pulled into the Easton Town Center, near the Macy's department store and turned to his girlfriend smiling.

"We have a change in plans" Puck said with an "I am a bad ass" grin.

He reached into his wallet, happy that he had gotten paid for the week, and pulled out five twenty's and handed them to Rachel. He knew that he needed to give money to Quinn, but he also knew that after he talked to Rachel tonight, that she might hate his fucking guts, so he was going to make their day together freaking awesome.

"You have forty minutes to go by yourself a nice dress and shit, and then we'll meet in the food court for a snack. No questions Berry. OK?" Puck chuckled again because Rachel looked like she was going to explode with curiosity. He kissed her briefly, walked her to the entrance of the store, kissed her again and walked toward the men's department.

Rachel stood at the entrance dumfounded for a moment, watching her boyfriend walk away. She had no idea what Noah had planned for the evening, but she decided that she would just accept the spontaneity of it all and enjoy the ride. Grinning, she headed toward the dress department, ready to power shop. And Power Shop she did. Normally Rachel was a cautious shopper. She almost always bought things on sale, but today she just had a blast. In forty minutes she managed to buy a beautiful dress, a great pair of shoes and wrap and even some make-up complete with the gift with purchase. She walked into the food court flushed with a shopping high. Rachel grabbed a steak sandwich (a rare treat) and joined Noah at a corner table where he was devouring a second steak sandwich.

"So did you leave anything in the store Rach?" Puck asked with his mouth half full.

Rachel grinned at him then took a bite of her food. It had been a long time since she had eaten, and shopping had definitely given her an appetite.

"Noah are you going to tell me what this impromptu shopping spree is all about?"

"Nope." Puck replied with a grin. "But you better shovel the rest of that in, cuz we gotta go."

"Noah!" Rachel said exasperated. "Rachel" Puck mocked. "For once just chill out and go with the flow. You'll have fun I promise."

Rachel nodded and quickly finished her sandwich. She followed Puck back to the car, but she pouted the entire ride to the hotel. Puck pulled in to the downtown Residence Inn and unloaded the car as Rachel went to check in. He carried her bags to her room and kissed her on the head.

"You have an hour to put that dress on" Puck said, dropping the bags on the bed. "We're on the clock, so you better hurry." He kissed her again, dodging her hand as she reached over to smack him, and jogged out of the room. Rachel laughed at her boyfriends lame-ass antics and headed for the shower.

Fifty-Five minutes later Rachel was dressed and ready to go. Nervously, she checked out her handy work in the mirror. The dress was a dark green halter dress that was gathered above her ribcage by a pretty jeweled broach and flowed down slightly above her knees. Strapy silver heels and a silver wrap completed the outfit. Her hair hung down in loose curls around her face, and she wore just enough make up to make her skin glow.

Even though they hand been dating for weeks now, this was the first time she had really gotten dressed up for him, or for any boy for that matter. The door knocked. She twirled in the mirror once, watching the pretty fabric of the dress flow with her, and then she grabbed her little silver purse and headed for the door. She pulled open the door ready to greet Puck but was rendered speechless. He looked less like a high school jock and more like a fashion model. He wore a thin dark grey cashmere sweater, a black jacket and a pair of black slacks. Puck appeared to have the same reaction as Rachel. He looked her up and down, letting out a long appreciative whistle.

"Damn! We are two _**good **_lookin Jews." He gave Rachel a soft kiss on the lips, and led her out of the door and out to the car.

"You look beautiful, Rachel" he whispered in her ear as he shut the car door.

"Thank you. You look very handsome yourself Noah." Rachel replied. "Now will you tell me where we are going?"

"Nope, you'll find out soon enough." He flashed a shit-eating grin and pulled out of the parking lot. Ten minutes later he parked the car. They got out of the car and began to walk, finally stopping in front of the Palace Theatre. Puck walked to the will call window and picked up the tickets while Rachel stood speechless for the second time that night.

Dream Girls was not exactly his idea of entertainment, but when he saw the billboard for the Broadway tour of the musical at the airport, and adding in the fact that it was the last performance, he knew that he had to at least try to get tickets. If he was only going to have one more date with Rachel, then it was going to be a fucking Great date. Puck handed Rachel her ticket.

"Come on you don't want to miss it do you?" He said with a smirk, laughing as the brunette launched herself into his arms. Kissed him hard, and then proceeded to pull him into the theater. - ~ -

Three and a half hours later the tiered but happy couple walked back into the hotel. Despite himself he had a good time. The music was good and the story was OK, but what he liked the best was the reaction from Rachel. She loved it, as was apparent by the way she wouldn't stop talking about it all the way through dinner after the musical and the drive back to the hotel. He knew that they were both tiered, but he also knew that he needed to talk to her tonight. They stopped in front of his room.

"Hey Rach. I wanna get out of these clothes and put on some sweats, can I meet you in your room in a few?" Puck kissed her and went into his room.

Rachel walked into her room, singing softly to herself. She hung up her dress and changed into a pair if sweat shorts and one of Puck's football t-shirts, and called her dads to say goodnight. She talked their ears off about the wonderful night and the musical until she heard Puck knock on the door, she said goodnight to her parents, promising to call them in the morning. Smiling, she opened the door and let puck in. She stopped smiling when she saw the serious look on his face.

"Are your grandparents OK?" she asked worriedly

"There fine, better in fact," Puck replied "Zeyde woke up and is now in stable condition."

"Then what's wrong? You look horrible. Are you breaking up with me or something, and this whole musical thing was just an away to soften the blow?" Rachel said nervously.

Puck pulled her into a hug, and just held her. "I'm not breaking up with you; I need to tell you some stuff OK? About before we started dating, and I need you to just let me tell you everything before you say anything."

Rachel nodded, and then went and sat down on the bed. Puck ran his head through his hair nervously and began to pace. '_Dude just start at the beginning.' _he thought to himself.

"This all happened back before I ever joined glee, when I was still giving you slushie facials, OK?" Rachel nodded, and he continued. "I was at a party, and I was already pretty wasted. Quinn showed up, and started bitching about how she and Finn had broken up. We hung out for a while, and she kissed me and told me that she wanted a "real man" or some such shit. I don't want to go into it, but we ended up having sex. It was a fucking mistake. I'm not going to make excuses; it was a shitty thing to do, despite the fact that I was wasted and totally thinking with my dick. Monday I found out that they were together, and I felt like shit for doing that to Finn, but Quinn told me to keep my mouth shut and I did." Puck continued to pace, looking down at his feet. He couldn't handle seeing the look on Rachel's face.

"Six weeks later, I found out that she was pregnant. Finn told me some bullshit story about knocking her up in a hot tub, so I confronted her. Eventually she told me the truth. The baby is mine. I told her that I would take care of her and the baby, that I wasn't a deadbeat. She told me that I was a Lima Looser, and that if I told anyone, that she would lie." Puck sighed wearily. "Who would believe the school man-whore over the President of the Celibacy club? I didn't like it, but what else could I do? I didn't expect to start liking the Diva glee club chick, ya know? That day at the bleachers I was going to break up with you, but not because you wouldn't let me touch your boobs, but because I didn't want you to deal with my bullshit. I didn't expect to like you so much Rachel."

Rachel sat there dumbfounded, trying to process everything. Her brain wouldn't stop spinning so she said the first thing that popped up. "You'd think with all of the sex that you've had, that you would know how to use freaking birth control!" She snapped, the practical side of her brain speaking first.

Puck turned and looked at her for the first time since he started talking. She looked hurt, pissed and confused all at once.

"I did." He said softly, "I know I'm an idiot, but I always wrap it up, the damn thing must have broken. I am really sorry Rachel. I wanted to tell you for a while now. Hell, I wanted to tell you the day that I was slushied and you were rinsing my hair, and we just started liking each other. But the fact is, as much as I wish it were different, at that point it wasn't really my secret to tell."

Rachel glared up at him, her foot tapping in agitation. "So why now?"

Puck looked at her pensively; he really wanted to go to her, hug her, but her body language made it obvious that she would rather cut off his hand or some other body part at this point.

"I care about you and I don't want to lie to you, but more than that. We can talk about shit you know? And I need to be able to talk to you about this, and even if Quinn won't you know, acknowledge me or whatever, she is taking my money. I think that gives me the right to tell my girl about my daughter." His voice cracked as he said daughter.

The raw emotion in his voice brought her to her knees. "It's not about Quinn." She said with amazement. "It's not Quinn that you love, that you pined after, it was the baby." Puck looked at her, he hated that he was hurting her, he hated that this was another thing that he messed up.

"I know that I have no right to ask you to stay, to forgive me. This is a lot of freaking baggage to put up with. But I hope that you do." Puck said softly, wearily.

Rachel studied him, there were tears flowing freely down her face. Everything in her was screaming to run into his arms then and there, but she needed more.

"Give me one reason why Noah. One real, honest reason. No bullshit, no male posturing. Just the truth, why should I stay with you."

"You shouldn't." He said defeated, looking as though he had lost his best friend. "You shouldn't have to deal with my fuck up."

"Noah." Rachel said exasperated. "I am not asking you to tell me what you think _I_ should do or what you think _I_ deserve. I am asking you what _you_ want, why _you_ want me to stay with you. Even if it is selfish, even if it will make you, how do you put it "grow a vagina." I want you, no I _need_ you, to man up and forget for a second that you are a teenage boy and just tell me how you feel. That is what I need from you Noah. I think I deserve that much, don't you?" Her voice shook with emotion, and frustration.

Being in a relationship was a new experience for Rachel, but after years of being left out, of not being wanted, of being on the outside, she needed to know where she stood with him no matter how devastating the truth could be. She looked at the boy that she had come to care for, maybe even love and her heart cracked a little. He looked wreaked and tired, so damn tired.

Puck walked over to Rachel and dropped to his knees, taking his hand in hers. This was it, chick flick moment or not. It went against everything he had ever done, against every badass guy gene he possessed. But she deserved the truth. He took a deep breath, and stared at her hands as he began to speak.

"I need you." He said simply, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I need your belief in me. You see me as more than a human sex toy, a man-whore, or a dumb-ass jock." He looked at her now, his face vulnerable and open.

"I need your bluntness. I need you to call me on my bullshit when I am being an ass. I need your crazy to make me laugh when all I want to do is beat the shit out of something." His hand shook slightly in hers.

"And I need your endless optimism, and your belief that any problem can be solved if you just have the right plan. Because seriously Rachel, I'm fucking clueless here. She is a part of me and it doesn't matter how many lies Quinn tells, or who she _wants_ the father to be, that little girl is mine. I can't just ignore it, but I don't have fucking clue what to do with it."

Puck got up and paced for a moment, then sat down on the bed next to Rachel. He turned toward her, looking her in the eyes. "So that's why I want you to give me, give us a second chance. I need you, but I want you too. You are the only person that I've ever felt this way about. If I could go back and change that night I would, but I can't. So I am asking to forgive me for thinking with my dick and to give us another chance. I want you to know that I didn't do the whole musical thing as a bribe or whatever, I just figured that if you ended up dumping my ass, at least we had an awesome date."

Rachel looked up at him, and fell for him a little bit more. No one had ever looked at her they way he was looking at her right now. Despite everything that happened, Rachel was sure that there was not a teenage girl on the planet that could turn away from a boy that had just laid himself bare like that.

"OK." She said softly. "You told me the truth about Quinn, about everything and that means a lot to me. I am not going to lie and say that it doesn't hurt, because it does, but as everyone is so fond of saying to me, the world does not revolve around me. What happened between you and Quinn happened long before we had feelings for each other, and had nothing to do with me." Rachel squeezed his hand. "I like being with you Noah, and I think that we are good for each other. As for the rest, we will take it one step at a time, together. OK?"

Puck sagged with relief and pulled her into a tight fierce hug. A tear leaked out of his eye against his will. Rachel kissed him gently, then more fiercely. She took charge and pulled her into bed with her. She kissed him again, and then wrapped her arms around him, gently stroking his mow-hawk. "It'll be Ok Noah," she murmured. "We will get through this I promise. We can find out what your legal rights are, and come up with a plan, together."

It had been a long emotional day, and she could tell that he was exhausted. Rachel pulled back the covers and motioned for him to get under them, then she reached over and turned off the lamp, she knew that her dads would probably not approve, but after everything they had just gone through, she figured that they both needed the comfort. Smiling softly at his droopy eyes, she nestled into his arms and began to hum And I am Telling You I'm Not Going, softly.

"Thank you Rachel." He whispered in the dark.

"Goodnight Noah." She replied gently, and continued to hum softly. His breathing evened out and he fell asleep, her in his arms.

- ~ -

**A/N2: **_Sheesh. That was a hard chapter to write, The whole date thing was unplanned, but I was __looking at a Columbus tourism site, for hotel idea's and the page had an add for dream girls that was playing this week. I hope you enjoyed it, here is a link if you are curious _.com/. _Also, cuz I love research, here is Rachel's dress _.?ID=304237&CategoryID=5449&LinkType=PDPZ1 _disclaimer for I am not advertising or advocating for anything, this is purely for research purposes._

**A/N3: **_Thanks again for the wonderful reviews and alerts, I hope you all enjoyed the reveal, cuz it was a bitch to write, damn Ryan Murphy and Babygate! As always, please tip your waitress (review) and have a great rest of the weekend!_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8 _Speed of Sound_

**A/N: **_**Sorry once again for the posting delay, Thank you for patience. I hope you enjoy. Also I want to say a special thank you to my editor EJ. You Rock!**_

Rachel woke up slowly, basking in the warmth that radiated from the body next to her. She turned on her side and began to study him; while she obviously knew what he looked like, she rarely got the chance to admire Noah with out him noticing. She gently traced her fingers down the angular planes of his face. '_He looks so beautiful and peaceful when he is asleep._' She thought, mesmerized by his handsome face. The angelic expression changed to a smirk as he opened his eyes.

"You were totally checkin' me out," Puck said with a leer.

"I was simply making sure that you were still breathing," she said defensively, then laughed, "you caught me. I couldn't help it. You looked so peaceful."

Puck grinned up at his girlfriend, "that's me, Peaceful Puck. But seriously, I feel better after last night. I don't like keeping shit from you Rach." Puck turned over and wrapped his arms around Rachel. "We OK?" He murmured into her hair.

"More than." She replied softly. "We still have a few things to discuss, and we need to make a plan of attack, but I told you last night, I'm not going anywhere. We have plenty of time to talk on the way home, but I need to call my dads, and we need to get on the road." Rachel kissed Puck, then jumped out of bed. "Besides, I am famished."

Puck watched Rachel as she buzzed around the room, picking up clothing and make up and such, something she did when she was nervous. He noticed that her cheeks were pink and figured that the embarrassment of spending the night with him had caught up to her.

"Hey Rach." He called, smiling. She turned, her hand clutching a bra. The flush of pink, turned tomato red as she looked at what she was holding. "Come here for a sec." Rachel shoved the offending article into her suitcase and walked over to Puck. He patted the bed, motioning for her to sit down next to him. Puck took her hand and smiled at her gently. "I know that my 'stud' status bothers you sometimes, but you are the only woman that I have ever actually _slept _with. And I am gonna totally sound like a chick here, but spending the night with you in my arms is way more intimate or whatever, than sex, ya know."

Rachel kissed him deeply once again amazed that he continued to surprise her. As horrible as the Quinn situation was, she couldn't deny that the whole thing had brought them much closer. "Thank you, Noah."

"Whatever" He replied blushing, this time it was his turn to be embarrassed.

--- ~ ---

The drive home was uneventful. In an unspoken agreement, they both kept the conversation light, in fact for most of the drive they just listened to music and enjoyed a comfortable silence. The previous evening had been very emotional and they both just need time to process. They checked in with their respective parents; Rachel's dads had excused them both from school, Rachel was sure that the gossip mill was going to have a field day with the fact that they were both absent from school, but she was getting to the point where she didn't care. Puck had also spoken to his mom. Both of his grandparents were officially out of danger, and the doctor's were sure that they were both going to have a full recovery. Puck had to pull over the car, after he got off the phone with his mom as he felt a surge of relief. The congratulatory hug turned into an impromptu make out session, that was interrupted by honking cars. After that, the rest of the drive home passed smoothly. It was only one o'clock by the time they got back to Lima, but neither one was ready to have their private bubble interrupted.

"Noah" Rachel said softly as they drove into town. "Would it be okay if we drove though Sonic, and ate lunch by the lake? We still have to talk about what you are going to next with Quinn, and it would be nice if we could talk somewhere where we won't be interrupted."

Puck nodded in agreement and turned the car toward the restaurant. Twenty minutes later they were sitting on a blanket in front of the lake, eating their lunch in comfortable silence. Rachel turned to the boy, realizing that she would have to be the one to broach the silence. "What is it that you hope to accomplish Noah, with Quinn I mean? You keep saying that you want to take care of your daughter, but what does that entail?"

"I don't want to be a deadbeat dad." Puck replied tersely.

"I understand that." Rachel said gently, "But I need you to be specific, that way we can formulate a better plan. In a perfect world, what happens? Do you get custody? Do you share her with Quinn? What exactly do you want?'

Puck started to speak, then stopped. "I don't know," he said honestly.

"Do you want to raise her yourself?" She asked gently.

"I could." Puck said defensively. "I can take care of her." His voice almost desperate. "I helped raise Ali."

Rachel scooted closer to Puck, needing the physical contact. "I believe in you Noah. I really do." She leaned over and kissed him sweetly. "You are a good guy, despite your persona and I honestly believe that you are going to be an amazing man, but you are forgetting one very important thing."

"What's that?" He asked confused.

"It's not about you." Rachel gently put her finger across his lips to silence him. "It's not about Quinn either. It is about your baby girl. I know that you can take care of her, but _should _you? What is best for her?"

"I don't want to abandon her Rachel, I can't do that." He said his voice choked with unshed tears."

Rachel pulled him into her arms and held him for a long while. "Considering adoption isn't abandoning her Noah. You are _**not **_your father. At only 17, you are already a hundreds times better than your father will ever be." She said fiercely, hugging him tightly. She kissed his forehead, than held his face gently between her hands. "I think that adoption is the ultimate mitzvah ~ a good deed that is also a blessing, a gift from Him. It is worth consideration, but first we need to find out what your rights are, so we know what to do next."

"And I need to tell Finn." Puck said suddenly. "I know that Quinn is used to people doing what she wants them to, and I know that this will probably annihilate my friendship with Finn, but he needs to know the truth. I love Baby Puck already, but so does he and the longer this goes on, the more that he is going to love her, too."

Rachel hugged him again, then kissed him fiercely. "I'm proud of you." She whispered into his ear. Puck responded by holding her tight.

--- ~ ---

Rachel closed her eyes, and tried to will away the headache that was stabbing her in the eye. The last 24 hours had been a roller coaster to say the least. First, she had the most amazing date in the history of dates, then there was the bombshell about the baby, another car trip, another emotional conversation with Noah, topped of with a two hour discussion with Noah and her dads. They had been understanding, but then again, that part didn't surprise her. Both had dealt with enough prejudice and hate, that they were a lot more patient and nonjudgmental.

Rachel knew that her dads first reaction was to ban him from the house and lock her in her room, but they also knew how much she cared about Noah. They trusted their daughter, and despite the recent development, they were both fond of Noah. After a brief period of shock, they were supportive of Puck and offered to help in any way they could; even if Rachel's daddy did take Puck into the other room and give him a long lecture on safe sex. They now had a lot more information on what Puck's parental rights were. Puck was going to tell Finn the next day, and then they were going to deal with Quinn. She sighed as the headache started to fade. As much as she cared about Noah it was nice to have a little time to herself. Noah was going to spend the night in the guest room again, but he had some lawns to do before it got too dark.

"Pumpkin," her dad called from downstairs, "you have company." Rachel flipped the lamp on and got up to answer her door. She was surprised to see Tina on the other side.

"Hi Rachel, I hope it's okay that I stopped by." Tina looked around nervously, not really sure how to act around her. "Um, I like your room."

"Thank you, have a seat," she said politely and gestured to the chair. "You are welcome to come by anytime, but why are you here. I don't think you have ever been to my house before."

Tina sat down and began to nervously play with her hair. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. I mean I got your e-mail on Saturday, and I knew you weren't going to be at school today or be able to go to the mall with us, but I still feel bad that we left you out of the sleep over and I just wanted to make sure you're okay, but I said that already."

Rachel smiled at the Gothic singer. "It's okay Tina, really. I meant it when I said that I wanted to start over and try to be friends. You know I think this is the first time we have ever had a conversation without the others around. How was the mall?"

Tina smiled then rolled her eyes. "It was a mall. But both Kurt and Mercedes live to shop, so that's where we go."

"Where would you go, if you got to pick?" Rachel asked curiously.

Tina tried to think of where she would like to go, but couldn't really come up with anything. They never asked her if she enjoyed the mall, they were teenagers who loved fashion so where else would they hang out. "I draw." Tina said suddenly, blushing. "I guess I would rather listen to music, hangout and sketch or whatever."

Rachel nodded, this making friends business was hard, but they were both trying and that was what counted. "I like going to museums. We go to a lot of them when I go to New York for the summers, even the smaller ones. I'd like to see your drawing sometime. So, how are things with Artie?" Rachel asked, knowing boys were always a good conversation topic.

"Strained, but getting better," Tina said softly, "he is not ready for us to start dating yet, but we are getting there, I hope. What is it like to have Puck for a boyfriend?"

"Wonderful, exasperating and absolutely terrifying all at the same time." Rachel said with a smile. She sat down next to Tina, and began to relax around the girl.

"Do you love him?"

Rachel thought about that for a moment, before she answered. "It's funny because I thought that I loved Finn. But it was nothing but a crush. He flirted and flattered but I didn't really know much about him except that he was my idea of a leading man, but Noah; it's completely different." Rachel's face softened as she thought of the mo-hawked boy.

"Over the summer I read the Twilight Series because I wanted to see what all of the hype was about, and while I enjoyed them, I thought that maybe they were overly romantic and unrealistic. How could someone our age possibly care for someone so intensely. Enough to fight for, enough to die for?"

Rachel closed her eyes and thought back to the night before, when Noah told her all of the reasons why he wanted and needed her in is life. "I understand Bella better now." Rachel said almost to herself. "I think that maybe it is not so unrealistic after all."

Tina looked at her new friend with wonder and amazement. "Puck is totally your Edward." She said with awe.

Rachel flushed beet red, embarrassed that she had confessed these things to Tina, before she even realized herself. "Tina," Rachel said suddenly, her voice deceptively calm. "I am really glad that we are becoming better friends, and sincerely hope that our friendship will continue to grow," Rachel smiled at the Asian girl, but it was a sharp, devilish smile. "But if you breath a word of our conversation to anyone, I will sneak into your room one night, rend you unconscious and bleach your hair Paris Hilton Blond, then I will leak it to Jacob that you did it on purpose because Paris Hilton is your secret idol."

Tina gulped visibly, believing every word that her friend said. "I've activated the *cone of silence, I swear."

"Good," Rachel said smiling her normal bubbly smile. "That's all settled then."

Tina got up and hugged her new friend, for all that Rachel was a little scary, she was fun to be around. "You and Puck are freakin' perfect for each other."

"We really are."

The door knocked and the boy in question walked into the room. "Hey Goth Spice." Puck greeted.

"Hi Puck." Tina turned back to Rachel. "Your boy is here now and three is a crowd, so I'm gonna take off, but I'll see you tomorrow." Tina reached over and hugged her friend once more, and whispered in her ear. "Totally Edward."

--- ~ ---

A/N 2: I've been asked to take part of the 'Support Stacie Author Auction' to help raise money for 'Stacie' an avid fan fic reader 'truelovepooh' who is battling ovarian AND breast cancer without medical insurance.

Starting March 26 and going through March 29, members of the forum (anyone can join) bids on an author and at the end of the auction, the winning bidder (after their money is sent), gets a fic written by me, for them.

Several fellow Glee authors are partaking in this auction...

(remove the spaces to use the links)

**Myself (Bookgurrrl):**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2063)

**SapphireEJ / SapphiresFic:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2047)

**GoingVintage:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2031)

**Mag721:**

( http :// www . supportstacie . com / phpBB3 / ? f=25&t=2068)

**The main forum:**

( http :// www. supportstacie . com / phpBB3/ )

This auction is listed under the '2010 April Author Auction' thread and we, specifically, are listed under the 'Glee Auctions'.

If you would like any of us to write a fic for you and you're willing to bid on us, hop on over to the forum and check it out, see our auctions and see what it's all about. It's totally worth it!

Having a grandma who had a double mastectomy and my twin sister having ovarian cancer, this is a great cause to support because it hits close to home for me.

Thanks for reading!

(Thanks to SapphireEJ / SapphiresFic for writing this up for me and letting me use some of her message!)

A/N3: I just started a new Puckleberry fic that I will start posting this week so check it out. It is future fic, Puck wears a uniform but that's all I'm saying. As always don't forget to tip your waitress (review). Thank you.

*Cone of silence is barrowed from Grey's anatomy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9 Keep Holding On **

**A/N: **_Yeah I am back on a roll, thank you again for the awesome reviews and alerts, you guys totally rock. Special shout out to my beta EJ, thank you, thank you. Rock Star! On with the show, hope you like it._

School the next day was pretty uneventful, despite the rumors that were running around, but when Rachel snapped at Santana, and told her about Puck's grandparents, the gossip died down was replaced by stories of a drunken kegger that weekend. Puck was snappish and irritable, most people assumed that it was because of his grandparent's car accident, but only Rachel knew that it was because Finn was coming over to his house after school. He was dreading the conversation, but knew that he couldn't put it off anymore.

Rachel looked at her boyfriend stubbornly. "We have already been through this, Noah, I told you I am staying with you."

Noah shook his head gently and kissed her on the head. "Babe, I'll be fine, I promise."

"I'm staying." She repeated inflexibly, her face set with determination. "I am not saying that I want to be in the room with you while you talk to Finn, that would be entirely to awkward. I am just saying that I would like to be in the house, otherwise I'll worry to much." Rachel leaned over and kissed him gently. "You wouldn't want me to worry about you, Noah, right?" She asked sweetly.

Puck cocked his head and considered his girlfriend briefly. "Ya know," he began casually, "I always thought that you were a little scary, in a good way of course," he said in a tongue and cheek manner, "but in a few years you are going to be fucking terrifying. You're only sixteen and you already have the Jewish guilt thing down cold, by the time you have kids you'll make my mom seem like an amateur by comparison."

"Does that I mean I can stay?" Rachel asked with a smile.

Puck's response became irrelevant, as they were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. "Go." Puck growled playfully as he smacked Rachel on the ass, rushing her upstairs.

"Good luck" she whispered, kissed him quickly, then scurried up the stairs out of sight.

Puck too a deep, steadying breath and walked to the door to greet is best friend. "Hey man."

"So, are you ready for me to kick your ass on X-Box?" Finn asked with a cocky grin as he walked into the house and made himself comfortable; something he had done many times over the years.

"You wish." Puck replied. "You want a soda?" He asked, stalling for time.

"Sure."

Puck nodded and walked into the kitchen to grab a couple drinks. _'I hope he doesn't decide to chuck this at my head.'_ He thought, as he checked the weight of the Coke can. He walked back in to the living room and handed the beverage to Finn, then sat down in the chair across from him, only to pop back up a moment later.

Finn looked at his best friend with concern. "Dude, what is up with you. You kinda look like your about to freak out, and you never freak out. Is everything OK with your Grandparents and your mom? I thought you said they were doing better." The concern in his friends face hit him like a knife in the gut.

"No, they're fine, it's not about them it's.. Dude, I gotta tell you something and it's bad," he rushed, wrenching his hands, "So I'm just gonna rip off the band-aid or whatever." Puck flexed his hands nervously and began to pace around the living room. "Quinn's baby is mine." He blurted out.

"I know." Finn said softly.

"I'm a total dick, and don't blame you if you want to kick my ass." Puck said rushing on, not hearing what Finn had just said. "I mean I know I was kinda wasted and she told me that you two broke up, but there is no excuse and..." Puck stopped abruptly as his brain and ears caught up to each other. "You know?" Puck asked incredulously.

"I know." Finn repeated. "Dude, I know I may not always know my right from my left, but I'm not that much of a freakin' idiot. Once the shock of the whole pregnancy bomb settled, I went home and Googled sperm and hot tubs. After that it was pretty obvious that it couldn't have been me. I just didn't know who it was."

Puck ran his hand though his mo-hawk and sat down. Finn looked more tired than pissed at the moment. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner man." He said softly. "Quinn didn't want me to say anything to anyone.She didn't want to have anything to do with me, man. She chose you, ya know? How'd you figure it out?"

"At first I thought that it might be this older guy from her church that was always flirting with her; until the day that we all had to ride around in wheelchairs at school." Finn explained, tapping his foot nervously. "You started giving me shit about not 'manning-up' and taking care of Quinn and the baby. You were so pissed, and then something just kinda clicked. Like how you and Quinn seemed to bitch at each other all the time, or how you would both suddenly stop talking when I came over. Shit like that."

Puck looked down at his shoes, feeling very guilty and small. "So that's why you pounded my face that day during drills." Puck said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Finn looked at his friend and shrugged. "I was _so_ pissed. I couldn't take it out on Quinn, hell, she doesn't even know that I know and you were an easy target."

"Finn Hudson, you hit my boyfriend on purpose!?" Rachel exclaimed as she charged downstairs.

"You eavesdropping little pixie." Puck muttered as he chuckled at the antics of his girlfriend.

"How _**dare**_ you!" Rachel continued stomping her foot in an all out Diva rage. "You Neanderthal! He made a mistake, granted it was a big one, but you don't go around punching people. Besides," Rachel raged, oblivious to her boyfriend's silent laughter. "You aren't entirely blame-free, Finn Hudson. You made out with me in the auditorium when you first joined Glee, you flirted, and then you asked me out on a 'date' and kissed me at that stupid bowling alley just so I would come back to Glee, and the _whole_ time you were still with Quinn."

Finn had the good grace to blush as he shuffled his feet uneasily.

Puck saw the look of hurt that flashed over Rachel's face. He knew that Rachel no longer had a thing for Finn, but hurt feelings didn't go away so easily. "That was kinda fucked up, dude." Puck said softly "You didn't exactly hide the fact that you were makin' cow eyes at Rachel from Quinn."

Finn stood up suddenly, fists clenched. "So that makes it OK then?" He asked angrily. "That means it was my fault that you screwed Quinn!?"

Puck stood up and put a tentative hand on his friends shoulder. "No man, I'm not saying that at all. That thing with Quinn was a _**huge**_ mistake and ultimately that's on me and Quinn. I'm just saying that your actions, or whatever, effected things, ya know? Be honest, what you did to Rachel was a dick move, and trust me I know. I am the freakin' King of dick moves." Puck said deprecatingly. He patted his friend on the back a little harder than necessary; a little frustrated that Finn seemed to get away with everything, while Puck was always the uber-jerk. _'Finn is always the fucking golden boy and I'm just a Lima Loser.'_ Puck thought bitterly. "If I had pulled the same shit with Rachel, that you did, you would have beaten the shit out of me."

Finn nodded slightly, and then walked over to Rachel looking to Puck for permission. The boy nodded briefly and Finn pulled Rachel in for a sincere, but brief hug. "Puck's right. I'm sorry, Rach. You totally deserved better than that. I did like you, you know, but Quinn is just..." He finished awkwardly. "I shouldn't have strung you along and I'm sorry." He hugged her again and then backed away, not wanting to piss off Puck.

"Look, it doesn't mean that I'm not still pissed at you. You broke the guy code, but I do kinda understand. It totally doesn't make it right, but I know you had a thing for Quinn and it wasn't just you trying to get into her pants. It's not like she didn't always flirt with you, besides drunk or not, Quinn doesn't do _**anything**_ she doesn't want to do." Finn slammed his fist into the back of the Puckerman's couch. "Dude, this is so messed up. We belong on like, freakin' Jerry Springer."

Rachel walked over and put a reassuring hand on the distraught boy. "Finn," She asked sympathetically, "If you knew all this time, why didn't you say anything at the very least? Why are you still a part of Quinn and her deceptions?"

Finn ran is hand through his hair with a sigh. "I love her." He said sadly. "I know I sound like a sucker." Finn said looking pointedly at Puck. "But as messed up as things are, I love Quinn, and I have since I was twelve. I know that's no excuse, but it's the truth." He patted Rachel's hand softly. "Thanks for caring, Rachel. I'm just sorry that you got pulled into our soap opera shit."

Puck chuckled wryly and pulled Rachel into his arms. "We are a fucked up group, aren't we? The only one who is blameless here, is you, Rachel."

Finn nodded emphatically, still feeling like crap about the way he treated Rachel. "She's like a Knight or whatever."

Rachel furrowed her brows in confusion, and then squeezed Puck's hand. "You mean Pawn, Finn." She said turning to the boy. "But I'm not, not really. I'm the one who set up the 'seduction' picnic in the auditorium. I chased you, Finn, and I knew you had a girlfriend. I'm not blameless." She kissed Puck on the cheek. "We all had a part in this," She continued. "But that is all in the past, and dwelling on the past doesn't fix anything."

"You're right." Finn said sitting back down into the couch next to the couple. His head felt like it was about to explode, but at the same time he felt an odd sense of relief. "All we can so now is focus on the future, right?"

"Right."

"How do we do that?" He asked wearily.

Puck looked at Rachel, and without even saying a word, he knew what she was thinking.

"We have to talk to Quinn." Puck replied with a sigh. "The three of us have cleared the air and all that shit. I'm glad about that, I really am, but she is the one that's knocked up. We have to figure out what to do about the baby; together."

Puck squeezed Rachel's hand and then he reached over and placed his hand on Finn's forearm with his free hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Biology or not, Finn still loved that little girl. Finn's eyes began to fill with tears.

Rachel placed a supportive hand on his arm, next to Puck's. "He means it Finn." Rachel said softly, speaking for her boyfriend because Noah's eyes were also beginning to tear up.

"What's the point?" Finn asked bitterly. "It's her body and it's not like she is letting me have a say in _anything_. I'm only there for support and money and whatever she wants." The frustration in his voice was evident.

"When I say that we are going to do this together man, I mean it." Puck said forcefully.

"Noah is the biological father" Rachel continued, explaining for her boyfriend. "I don't think that it will happen, but if Quinn keeps insisting that the baby isn't his, he can demand a paternity test through the courts and Quinn has to comply. If we want the baby, we can sue for custody, if she wants to give up the baby for adoption Noah has to give legal consent as the biological father, and if we decide that adoption is the best option**, **then we will all help find the right family. She can't make all the decisions about the baby alone, Finn." She said reassuringly, "I am not very fond of sports metaphors, but the fact is, that it's a whole different ball game now."

Puck quickly scrubbed away a tear that escaped, and picked up where Rachel left off.

"I don't have a freakin' clue what to do about the baby, but Rachel's right. Whatever we do, it will be what is best for the baby." He looked deep into Rachel's eyes when he said that, and smiled briefly when he saw the pride that shone through. "And we will all figure it out together," Puck continued, "Not just me and Quinn, whether she likes it or not, but you and Rachel too. You, because screw biology, you're her father, too, and Rachel..." He paused, looking at his girlfriend.

"Because I promised Noah that I would stand by him." Rachel said intensely, "and there is no way in hell that I am going to break my promise to him." She turned and kissed him fiercely, then leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Finn's cheek. "In case you haven't noticed, I am kind of an expert on alternative families, and that is what we are. A family."

Puck pulled her tight to him once again. "You're kind of amazing, you know that?" He whispered in her ear.

"So are you." She responded.

Finn studied the couple, happy for them, but also envious. "You two are good together." He said softly. "Are we done?" He asked abruptly, suddenly wanting to be away from their happiness, knowing that his own relationship was about to be hit by a tsunami.

Rachel nodded, "the money," She murmured.

"Just one more thing," Puck said once again, patting his friend on the back. He didn't used to be so touchy feely (with dudes anyway), but he guessed that Rachel was rubbing off on him. "It's not that bad, dude, I swear. But you need to know about it before we talk to Quinn. You know how I told you that I started that landscaping business?"

Finn nodded in confirmation. "Well I did it to make more money; I've been giving money to Quinn. I have been keeping track of how much I give her. You should too man, OK? That way we can legally cover our asses, not that I think it'll get to that."

"That's it?" Finn said with a weary smile, "There are no more bombshells left?" He stood up wanting to leave.

"Nope, that's it." Puck stood up, and in an uncharacteristic move, he gave his friend a hug, not a man hug, but a real brother to brother hug. "I really am sorry Finn." He said huskily, "I wish I...I know that it doesn't mean anything, but I am so freaking sorry."

Finn hugged his friend back tightly. "You told me, that means...it means a lot." They separated and shared a brief smile.

Rachel was happy and relieved to see the boys getting along, but ever the planner, she had to plan for the next day. "We have to talk to Quinn tomorrow." Rachel said gently, "The longer we put it off, the harder it is going to be. Finn, what time does your mom get home?"

"Seven"

"Fine than, Noah and I will meet you and Quinn at your house after practice, okay?" Finn nodded wearily, "Okay, I won't say anything to her until then. I think that I'll need the back up, anyway."

"We have your back." Noah said. Rachel gave Finn a quick hug. "We really do."

They walked the quarterback to the door. Noah stuck out his hand. "We cool?"

Finn smirked, and then took it. "We're cool."

Puck closed the door behind Finn, and wrapped his arms around Rachel. "Thank you." He said softly, voice full of emotion. "Thank you for defending my honor, Rachel. Such as it is."

Rachel kissed him deeply. "Just because you had a bumpy start, does not mean that you are not an honorable man, Noah, and I will always defend you."

**A/N 2: **Sheesh that was a hard one to write, but I really hope you all enjoyed it. Ok now the shameless plug portion of the morning. I started a new Future Puckleberry Fic called The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday. Puck Is Navy SEAL. So check it out! As always thanks again, and remember to is your waitress (_**Review**_) we writers live for it!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10 ****Bring Me to Life**

A/N: _Thank you so much for the alerts and reviews, I tried to answer them all, but if I left out a few, I can only say thank you. Once again a big Thank You to EJ my beta and writing buddy, you rock! Hope you like the chapter._

Rachel stirred the huge pot with a wooden spoon while singing softly to herself. The afternoon had taken a toll on both of them, and she decided that everyone needed a dose of comfort food, so after a brief trip the grocery store, the couple went back to the Berry's house. Rachel cut, chopped and sautéed, all while nagging her boyfriend to do his homework. Her father had already wandered in the kitchen twice to peek into the pot and got smacked by her spoon in the process. Rachel finally told Noah to catch up her fathers on the conversation with Finn, and to gather all the legal information that they would need for the confrontation with Quinn the next day.

She gave the pot a final stir, then tasted her creation. She grinned in triumph, then moved on to make the salad and set the table. Fifteen minutes later the table was laden with Creole gumbo, white rice, and a mixed greens and vegetable salad.

"You can stop hovering in front of the kitchen door daddy, dinner is ready," she called out with a smile and began to pour water into glasses. The three men walked into the dinning room, each of them stopping to kiss the cook on the cheek in appreciation. Both of Rachel's parents dug into the bowls with gusto, while Puck looked at the table in confusion.

She giggled at her boyfriends expression and kissed him gently on the cheek. "Comfort food for me is either brisket and meatballs, from my Bubby or my Nanna's Gumbo," she explained, "brisket would take too long, so this is Nanna's Gumbo."

Puck looked at the big bowl of stew on the table "and Nanna's Gumbo is what exactly, Rach? I'm a Jewish kid from Ohio remember?"

Isaiah chuckled "it's a spicy thick soup with shrimp, Cajun sausages and veggies; we eat it over rice."

"Just try it Noah!" Rachel scolded playfully.

He took a tentative bite, then began to shovel it in his mouth, "really good Rach," he mumbled between bites.

"Glad you like it," she replied, tucking into her own dinner.

"So if you made Gumbo tonight, and the conversation with Finn actually went well considering," her father asked between bites, "what are we having for dinner tomorrow, Ben & Jerry's."

Rachel took a long drink of water, then smiled wryly at her father. "I already have the fixings for Matzo ball soup prepped; I'll just stick them in the crock pot before we go to school in the morning. You realize that you and daddy are one of the reason's why I work out with the elliptical every morning. With both Jewish and Southern roots, there is no way to escape comfort food when things get bad."

David patted his daughters hand gently, "you think it's going to be bad tomorrow?"

"I think it's gonna be world war freaking three" Puck said, speaking for both of them. He cleared his throat and put down his fork, "I'm not good at talking about feelings or whatever," he said nervously, "that's Rachel's job, but I just wanted to say thank you, for not kicking me out when you found out about this shit…I mean whole mess; for letting me stay here while my mom is gone, and for all the legal advice. Thank you for the support or whatever I'm not used to…just thank you." Puck stood up abruptly, "excuse me I have to hit the head." he muttered and left the room.

Rachel watched her boyfriend leave the room; she debated going after him, but after a moment, decided that he obviously need a few minutes to himself. "I think it is going to take him time to get used to how our family works," she said softly. "His mom is a nice woman, and she is doing her best, but she is not around a lot. She works long shifts and she is taking classes so she can go from being an LVN (licensed vocational nurse) to an RN (registered nurse)," she took a bite of food, then continued, "Noah has always been the 'Man of the House', he's helped raise Ali, and even though he hasn't said so specifically, I think that he has been contributing to the family income for years, she loves him but they are not that close." Rachel picked at her salad, thinking back to the conversation that she had with Noah a few weeks ago. She had been nervous about meeting his mother and he'd said that she would love her if for no other reason, because she was Jewish, he then proceeded to tell her about the night that they were watching Schindler's List and she told him that he was no better, and why couldn't he date a Jewish girl, and while she was the glad that he used that as an excuse to begin dating her, she knew that the comment had hurt his feelings, Rachel wasn't quite so nice about it. She liked his mom well enough and they got along, but Rachel couldn't forgive that comment. Yes, Noah had a questionable past as bully and a boy-slut, but in Rachel's mind there is never an excuse to compare your child; someone you love, to a bunch of murdering Nazis.

David studied his daughter briefly, as if he was thinking about something difficult, "so I'm guessing that she would not be pleased about becoming a grandmother?"

She shook her head violently, "and by a *Shik-sa no less._(Yiddish term for a non Jewish woman)_, she added bitterly, "no daddy, not pleased would be a drastic understatement."

"If by drastic understatement you mean finding my lifeless body buried by a river somewhere," Puck added as he walked back into the room, "she's been happier with me since I started dating Rachel and stopped getting in to trouble so much, but if she found out about the baby, killing me would be the kind thing. I think she'd probably kick my ass out," he said wearily, "I've just disappointed her too much, and I can't say that I blame her. I've been a pretty big screw up."

Rachel got up from the table, and wrapped her arms around the sad boy, "Noah Puckerman I will not have talk that way, do you understand me!" She said ferociously, "yes, you screwed up, but you have also done a lot right, including taking care of your family, and if your mom can't see that, if she can't love you and see past all bull crap the way that I do, then I feel sorry for her."

Noah turned to her, and put his hand to her cheek, eyes wide with surprise, "did you just say that you loved me?" He asked quietly.

Rachel bit her lip, and nodded "yes, I believe I just did," she whispered, looking deeply in his eyes, and for a moment they were the only two people in the world. "Logically we've only been dating a few months and I know it's kinda of sudden but," the rest of her words were cut off as he placed a loving kiss to her mouth.

"There you go defending my honor again, babe," he placed both hands on her face and kissed her again softly; his eyes suspiciously shiny. "You're the best thing ever, Rach. You really are," he said softly. "I love you, too." They held each other for a long time, until they were brought down to earth by the sound of a gentle cough.

"Well, I guess that settles it," David said with a tender smile, "you are a part of this family now, so whatever happens will figure it out as a family."

Both of the teens blushed then sat down and began to eat, or at least pretend to. Isaiah put down his fork, and looked at the young couple, "I agree with daddy however because my husband _is _a hopeless romantic I feel that I have to bring up a few key points," the mo-hawked boy squirmed under the intensity of the lawyers gaze. "I'm not going to say that it's too soon to fall in love, because after six weeks I knew that I loved your father," he glanced **lovingly** at his husband, but returned his to his stern expression as he looked at the kids, "but what I will council, is that you two continue to take things slowly, we are already dealing with negative effects of teenage sex and," both teenagers blush bright red.

"Sir, I speak for both of us when I say," Puck stammered nervously, "that we aren't anywhere near even talking about that next step, much less doing it," Isaiah raised an eyebrow questioningly, knowing the boys reputation. "I mean it sir," he continued, "this relationship is new to both of us, I love your daughter and I want to do this the right way and take things slowly, besides I think we're dealing with as much as we can handle right now."

Isaiah nodded, "I think that's very mature of you, but I think we'll keep the open door rule if it's all the same to you," and this time it was his turn to blush, "when you two do get to that point I expect you to both be responsible. Now I am going to change the subject before my head explodes."

David leaned over and kissed his husband on the cheek and smiled. "Okay who wants more Gumbo?"

---- ~ ----

Rachel walked the halls a bundle of nerves; even though it went as well as it could, the confrontation with Finn had been hard, but today was going to be excruciating; they were at the school early this morning because Rachel wanted to use the library and Noah wanted; needed, to use the gym. They both had excess nervous energy.

She reached her locker, to put away her books and turned up her iPod, hoping that the loud emotion filled voice of Amy Lee and Evanescence would drown out her thoughts. She started toward the library, but noticed that the choir room was open. She looked around; it was still early so the halls were empty. She put her books down and began to play a song 'Popular' from Wicked; it was normally a go-to cheer-up song. She sang it through perfectly, but it reminded her to much of Quinn, so it wasn't helping her expel the nervous energy that she was feeling.

Closing her eyes, she began to play the opening piano part of the song that she'd just heard. While she loved the album version of 'Bring Me to Life', the version with just Amy Lee, resonated with her. Taking a deep steadying breath, she started over, putting all her energy and emotion that she was feeling into her fingers and her voice.

The haunting tones of the opening melody floated through the room and out into the empty hall, drawing the attention of Puck, Matt, Finn and Mike, who had just finished their morning workout and were walking out of the gym. They boys began to walk toward the music and Puck walked into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb his girlfriend, while the rest of the boys hung back by the door, out of sight. She began singing softly, the piano accenting the haunting quietness of her voice.

_"How can you see into my eyes _

_Like open doors?  
Leading you down into my core  
Where I've become so numb"_

Her voice became stronger, roughened with pent up emotion, but fierce and desperate all at the same time.

_"Without a soul _

_My spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
Until you find it there and lead _

_It back home"  
_

Puck's breath caught in throat, admiring this girl that he had some how fallen in love with. Her eyes were closed and her fingers flowed across the keys.

_"Wake me up inside  
Wake me up inside  
Call my name and save me from the dark"_

She belted out the chorus with a power and raw energy that he had never heard from her in all the hours of practices, car sing-along and MySpace videos.

_"_B_id my blood to run  
Before I come undone  
Save me from the nothing I've become_

_Now that I know what I'm without  
You can't just leave me  
Breathe_

_Into me and make me real  
Bring me to life"_

The piano changed tempo again, and this time it wasn't just her voice that exuded power, energy, desperation and yes, sex, it was the music itself. He'd never heard her play that way before. Yes, she was a good piano player, very technically proficient, but that's all it normally was. But this time it was as though she had taken every ounce of fear, longing, and alienation that she had ever felt and pulled it out of her shoving it into the black and white keys.

_"Wake me up inside  
Wake me up inside  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
Bid my blood to run  
Before I come undone  
Save me from the nothing I've become  
Bring me to life  
Bring me to life"_

The tone of her voice changed now, it was still strong, still powerful, but the desperation had morphed into undiluted animalistic pain. Puck clenched his fists, as he felt his eyes begin to sting and water. Unbeknownst to the couple entranced in the music room, the rest of the Gleeks had migrated to the hallway just outside.

_"Frozen inside without your touch_

_Without your love darling_

_Only you are the life among the dead"_

Again the piano took over filling the gap that another vocalist would have filled.

_"I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
Got to open my eyes to everything"_

The music crashed and swelled.

_"Bring me to life_

Wake me up inside  
Wake me up inside  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
Bid my blood to run  
Before I come undone  
Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life"

She finished with a flourish, her voice raw, commanding and absolutely heart breaking.

Puck rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her petite form he held her tightly, kissing her harder and more passionately than he ever had before, before backing away abruptly, "holy shit, Rachel!" He exclaimed , "why don't you ever let anyone see that side of you?"

"What side is that, Noah?" She said still breathless from the kiss.

"The bad-ass, the hard core side of you, most people wouldn't even think that you would listen to Evanescence, much less be able to sing like _**that**_," he walked over to the door and closed it hoping that the band of misfits would take the hint and scatter. He lightly smacked the door, driving the point home. He knew that for once, Rachel would not have wanted an audience. The gang on the other side of the door got the hint, and quietly walked away except for Kurt who had to be pulled away, with Finn's hand covering his mouth, much to his delight.

"Was it that strange?" She asked softly, insecure.

"Strange?! Babe, what it was, was fucking fantastic! I think that sometimes you do your self a disservice..."

"Disservice?" She asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up" he snapped, "my vocab is totally your fault, anyway, as I was saying, Rachel Berry, before I was so rudely interrupted," he said in a perfect imitation of his girlfriend, "I think you limit yourself musically by sticking to the musical shit. That song you just did," he gestured to the piano, "that is the best, most raw performance that I've ever heard from you. Yes, we all know that you are fantastic at the Glee shit, but with this song their was a little something extra."

"Thanks, Noah," Rachel said kissing the young man, "I was just so keyed up about this Quinn thing that I feel like I had to get it out or I would burst."

"Well, you sure as hell got it out," he said with a chuckle, "feel better?"

She wrapped herself into his arms, "I do now."

---- ~ ---

Both Rachel and Puck were quiet on the drive to Finn's house. Puck held her hand tightly, took a deep breath, and walked up the familiar driveway. Puck knocked three times, then opened the door and walked in as he always did.

"Hey man, we're here," he called.

"Yeah, we are over here" Finn answered, and they made their way to Finn's room.

"Quinn is in the shower, but she should be out in a few."

Rachel looked around Finn's room, mentally comparing it to Noah's. They both had sports paraphernalia scattered about, but Noah's room was neater, more organized. She studied the two boys, they were both tense and rigid and they made the room seem much smaller.

"I think you should let me talk to Quinn first," she said suddenly, "I'm looking at the two of you and I am intimidated and I already know what's going on," she said quickly, "Quinn is going to feel ganged up on and defensive and she is already stressed out, besides she will instinctively want to deny everything and then blame Noah. If I talk to her first, she wont feel as scared and freaked out, and we can get the whole denial thing out of the way, and I can give her a chance to calm down before she deals with you two," Rachel could tell that both boys wanted to fight her on this because they wanted to be there "the more upset she gets, the harder it is on the baby," she said softly, playing the guilt card and it worked; both boys dropped it and nodded.

"You may have a point." Puck said softly, "I just don't want her to take all this out on you. You shouldn't have to be the fall guy."

She kissed her boyfriend sweetly, "this isn't exactly the first time I've dealt with a pissed off cheerleader, Noah, I'll be fine and she needs to feel safe. If using me as verbal punching bag is what it takes for us to get to a place where we can talk about this whole situation rationally, then it's worth it."

Quinn walked into the room, she looked fresh and pretty, her face was free of make up and pink from the shower. She wore sweat pants that were too big for her and one of Finn's football shirts. "Hi man-hands, I mean Rachel." she smiled slightly to the girl, "Puck." she said tersely and nodded in his direction.

Puck gave Rachel a _'you were right' _look and nudged his best friend. "We're gonna get snacks," the taller boy said and they both left the room.

Rachel sat down on the bed and watched as Quinn brushed her hair. "How are you feeling?" She asked politely Quinn turned and studied the girl. "You obviously came here to talk to me about something, so you might as well get on with it, it's been a long day and I'm too tired for small talk."

Rachel too a deep breath, "I wanted to talk to you about the baby. We know that Noah is the biological father."

Quinn paled, and griped the hairbrush, "whatever he told you was a lie," she said hotly.

"Quinn," Rachel said softly "we both know that's not true, he told me the whole story a week ago and we told Finn yesterday."

"You had no right!" Quinn said furiously, flushing red now.

"He already knew." she said softly.

"What!" She exclaimed in a panic.

Rachel walked over to the shaking blond and put a hand on her shoulder, "he has known from the very beginning that he wasn't the biological father." Quinn flushed again, looking lost and confused, "the hot tub story didn't last long thanks to Google." Rachel explained, "he didn't know about Noah until yesterday. He _loves _you Quinn, through all of this he still really loves you."

"So why are you here?" She asked wearily.

"I thought that it would be easier for you to hear this from me then from the boys, and I'm here because Noah is my boyfriend and Finn is my friend." Rachel warily patted Quinn on the shoulder again, "I can be your friend too if you'll let me."

Quinn studied the girl and nodded slightly, "so now what?"

Rachel gave the blond a one armed hug, then moved away, "now the boys come back in here and we talk about what to do about the baby."

Quinn turned and scowled at the petite brunette, "look," she said harshly, "just because you all know the truth doesn't mean you have any say in what to do with my baby." If Rachel wasn't so shocked at the blonds outburst, she would have heard the fear behind the anger in her voice.

"It's not that simple Quinn," Puck said standing in the doorway with Finn. "This isn't an iPod or a cell phone that you can just claim ownership of," he walked over and put his arm around Rachel as Finn walked over and did the same to a shaking Quinn, "I am biologically the father of that kid, and I do have legal right to her whether you want to believe it or not," he handed her a folder full of legal information that Isaiah had put together for him. "Look, we made a mistake, a big one, but whatever happens we decide together. Finn loves you and he loves that baby, and Rachel loves me," he turned and kissed Rachel on top of the head, "and I love that baby, too. I don't want to make it public, in fact it's better for all of us if everyone continues to think that the baby is Finn's, but I do have legal rights to my kid and if you push me, I will do whatever I have to do to prove it."

Finn turned to his girlfriend and kissed her, "I love you, Quinn. That doesn't mean that I'm not pissed as hell at you, but I wish you would have just told me. I'm still here, I'll always be here," Finn took a deep breath, and looked at Puck, "but that doesn't mean that you can bully and boss me around and expect me to have no say in what happens to our kid. None of us know what to do right now, if we want to keep it, or if Puck wants to keep it, or if we give the baby up for adoption, but from now on we decide that together, okay?"

Quinn studied her boyfriend, shocked that he stood up for himself and then looked at the determination on Rachel and Puck; she knew that they wouldn't let this drop and even though she was scared to tell Terri the baby switch was off, she actually felt relieved that she didn't have to deal with this all alone anymore, no matter how strange the alliance was, "okay" she rasped, "I am so sorry Finn," she whispered to her boyfriend, curling into his arms.

Puck looked at Finn, and nodded, taking Rachel's hand and with a wave, guided her out; leaving the couple to deal with their relationship on their own.

A/N2: Just wanted to say a quick thank you shout out to Julie for her winning bid at the support Stacie auction, I'm looking forward to meeting her challenge.

A/N3: Just wanted to drop a little disclaimer, I am Jewish so I tend to be a little sensitive about the Nazi thing so I hope it didn't come off as too harsh, I know that the Glee writers (that I **Love**) were trying to be funny, but it wasn't funny to me. Thanks again for reading, and as always don't forget to tip your waitress (review) we live for it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11: ****Dedicated Follower Of Fashion**

...

**A/N:** _Hi there Glee fans, I'm back. Real Life happened. A move across country, new jobs, new schools __and two destroyed cars, but I had to come back and keep writing, my Rachel and Puck wouldn't shut up. I can't promise an update every week, but I will do my best to be more consistent. I'm a little rusty so please be patient._

The next few days passed by peacefully, especially compared to the previous week.Puck's grandparents were both in stable condition, and were improving every day. Puck's mom and sister were due back on Sunday. Puck was happy that his grandparents were doing well, but was not looking forward to the conversation that he knew that he had to have with his mother. On the bright side, he was actually enjoying his stay with Rachel and her dads; the family closeness was strange, but also comforting. For a guy who had no father, it was something else to all of sudden have two. The other positive change was that his friendship with Finn was not only back on solid ground**,** but actually stronger than it had been in months.

Rachel was also surprised and happy with the way things were unfolding. She loved spending time with Noah, and loved to watch him interact with her dads, but she was also pleased with her shifting relationship with the rest of the Glee members. As promised, she had spent some time at Tina's just behaving like teenage girls, and she was even getting along better with Mercedes. Life wasn't perfect; they still had to deal with Noah's mom**,** as well as decide the path to take with the baby and McKinley High was still, well, McKinley High, but the changes between now and a few months ago with the whole "mash up" thing was pretty amazing. Having a boyfriend who really cared about her and people who were genuinely becoming friends, made a huge difference in dealing with the emotional (and sometimes physical) minefield that was high school.

Rachel and Puck walked together to Glee, both happy that it was Friday. She looked over at the risers surprised to see Quinn sitting by herself. Santana and Brittney were sitting together on the other side of the room whispering to each other, Matt was talking to Mercedes and Mike and Finn was nowhere to be found. Rachel kissed Puck on the cheek, "I'm going to go check on Quinn**," s**he whispered, nodding in the blonde's direction and then walked over to the girl.

"Hi Quinn."

"Hey Man-Ha... I mean Rachel. Sorry, bad habit. It's become such a reflex, that I kind of have to remind myself that I don't hate you anymore. Why aren't you sitting with your boyfriend or your friends?" Bitterness laced her voice; she sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

Rachel turned to face the Cheerio, and saw that there was sadness under the bitchiness, "I just wanted to check on you, Quinn. Like I said before, I am willing to be your friend if you will let me. What's wrong?"

Quinn looked up at Rachel, her eyes glassy from un-shed tears as she looked over at Santana and Britney. "It's just that Finn is at a job interview at Breadsticks and my so-called _friends_ are sitting on the other side of the room whispering about me. This is just another example of the train-wreck that is my life."

An eavesdropping Kurt took that moment to make his entrance. He glided over and dramatically dropped down next to Rachel, "you canceled our mall trip on Monday, but I will let you make it up to me. We are going shopping after school and we are getting _you_ a new wardrobe. I know that your dads gave you a credit card for such emergencies." Kurt gave the small brunette a mercenary smile and then turned to Quinn, "You have to come too, Quinn, your cute, but wholesome style will tone down my diva-fabulousness, between you, me and Mercedes we will give Rachel the wardrobe over-haul she so desperately needs," he then pulled Quinn to her feet and dragged her over to Mercedes, where they began to frantically flip though the latest copy of Seventeen Magazine.

Rachel smiled as she watched the three argue over the magazine, Quinn smiled indulgently and rolled her eyes at the two Diva's, and for that alone, Rachel knew that she would let Kurt give her the makeover that he always nagged her about. She turned and smiled as she felt an arm wrap around her waist, "hey babe," Puck muttered, as he kissed the back of her neck.

"It has been decided that I am getting a fashion makeover after Glee, so maybe you can go hang out with the boys."

Puck nodded, "video games and pizza" he drawled, doing a passable impression of Homer Simpson.

"Sounds like a plan**,** babe, just text me when you get done and I'll meet you back at your house." His voice changed for a second as insecurity crept in. "If that is still cool with you and your dads, I mean**,** I can always crash with Chang or just go back to my place or whatever."

Rachel shook her head vigorously and tightened her arms around her boyfriend's waist. "Of course you can stay with us. Despite the fact that it goes against the 'Father code', my dads like having you stay with us, besides," she stated in her 'bossy' voice, "they already promised your mom they would keep an eye on you and they would never go back on their word. You are staying with us until your mom gets home." She stomped her foot a little and the words, "that's final" were implied.

He grinned at his crazy pixie, secretly glad to have someone else be in charge for a change. Any further argument was squashed by Mr. Schuester as he began the "lesson" for the day. Glee passed quickly, and with only a minor protest, Rachel was whisked off to the mall by Mercedes, Kurt and Quinn.

An hour and a half later**,** Quinn was laughing so hard she almost peed her pants and Rachel's usual perky smile was replaced with a scowl as Kurt threw pair after pair of jeans into the dressing room.

"Come on out Ms. Thing!" Kurt sang cheerfully as he knocked on the dressing room door, where Quinn was sitting on a bench**,** still giggling.

"Kurt**,** it is just a pair of jeans, just like the other twelve I tried on. They all look the same."

Kurt gasped dramatically, "how can you say that? These," he said pointing to the pair she was currently wearing, "are skinny jeans also known as "date" jeans, they look fabulous on you by the way, the first pair you tried on, are a boot cut and a lighter wash, they are casual jeans, and these" he said holding up a dark blue sparkly pair, "are just plain fabulous."

Rachel took a deep cleansing breath, then smiled at the boy, "Okay, then I'll take them all, can we please move on to something else?"

Kurt nodded, taking pity on his new friend, "only if you wear that," he said pointing at the skinny jeans, and stretchy t-shirt that she was currently wearing, "out of the store, and give away the fuzzy sweater that you wore here."

"Fine," she said between her teeth, although after studying herself in the mirror, she had to admit that the outfit was flattering, and that the jeans were much more comfortable then they looked. In a land-speed record, Rachel gathered up all of the clothing that they, meaning Kurt, Quinn and Mercedes had decided on and only winced a little bit as she signed the credit slip.

Two hours and several tunics, t-shirts, tops, dresses and leggings later, the group was taking a well-deserved break at the food court. Kurt wrinkled his nose as he watched Quinn dip another vinegar covered french fry into her strawberry ice cream sundae.

"Don't give me that face Kurt, it's not like I can help it. The baby wants what the baby want's**,**" Quinn said, delicately eating another strawberry covered fry.

"What's it like?" Rachel asked softly, "being pregnant, I mean?"

Quinn studied the girl and chewed thoughtfully, trying to figure out how to answer the question. "It is gross and uncomfortable and scary as hell, I mean my body is doing all these weird things and the hormones, I feel like I am either going to cry or hit something half the time, I have no idea what the future is going to be like, so that freaks me out." Quinn eyes teared up, and her face softened, "but, it is also kind of amazing, don't get me wrong this isn't something I would have ever asked for, but there is this life inside me, ya know? And she is growing and getting bigger because of me, and that doesn't suck."

Rachel smiled at Quinn and without realizing it, put a comforting arm on the girls shoulder.

"I hear shoes calling my name, so eat up momma," Kurt said with a smile, "there is money to spend and lots of lovely shoes that need good homes, besides I want to go to Pea in a Pod, they have the cutest maternity jeans that would look great on you." He grabbed Mercedes' hand and pulled her up and toward Nine West.

"We should go," Rachel said with a chuckle, "Kurt is very serious about shoes, besides I refuse to be the only one forced to try on outfit after outfit and get scrutinized. As hard as it is to believe after the retail damage that we have just wrought, I haven't spent all of my clothing allowance yet, and if I spend some on you, I won't have to try on anymore clothes today," Rachel reached her hand out to the blond.

"Thank you, Rachel," Quinn smiled.

"The shoes are calling!" Kurt called from across the mall, the girls laughed and gathered up their stuff and walked over to the shoe store together; if not as friends then at least compatriots to the shopping cause.

...

Rachel staggered into her house, laden with shopping bags, but had a smile on her face. The smile morphed into a grin as she heard the sounds of jeering and good-nature smack talk. She dropped her bags and followed the sounds into the family room, expecting to see Noah and either Mike or Finn, but her mouth dropped open at the sight of her dad swinging the XBox controller in victory and trash talking her boyfriend.

"Take that you mo-hawked miscreant! You may be young, but you'll never beat me," he taunted good-naturedly, " 'cuz _I am the greatest,_" he said, doing a passable Mohamed Ali impression.

Rachel stifled a giggle and walked over to the men, giving them each a peck on the cheek in greeting.

"I leave you alone for one afternoon, and you have already corrupted my father."

Puck flashed a cocky grin, "what can I say babe, I'm just that good."

Rachel rolled her eyes and flopped down on the couch. Isaiah laughed and patted his daughter's shoulder, looking over at the bags that spilled through the hallway. "Jeez, Rachel, did you leave anything at the mall? Should I take a Xanax before I look at the credit card bill this month?"

"Yes and yes," she replied, "we did leave some things in the stores, but only because the mall closed before Kurt could hit them all, and I am afraid that I probably spent more than I should, I'll make sure to transfer some money from my savings account to cover the difference."

Rachel's other father walked into the room with a tray of drinks and sat them down on the coffee table, "don't worry about it, Rachel, this is the first time you've actually bought clothes this year, we don't blame you for going a little overboard."

"Especially with Hummel in charge of the card," Puck muttered and he stabbed the controller violently, trying to move his player only to be shut down once again by Isaiah.

Rachel smiled once more, then closed her eyes and rubbed her temples trying to loosen the headache that had attached itself. "I can't in good conscience let you do that, dad and daddy, that card is for my essentials, and some of the charges weren't to purchase clothes for me, but for Quinn." She jumped as she felt something cold on her head; Puck had gotten and ice pack from the freezer while she had her eyes closed and the ice started to help almost immediately. "I wouldn't have used the card except I didn't have that much cash with me. We went into Pea in a Pod, a maternity store, just to get her a pair of jeans, but the clothes were so cute, and Quinn was so grateful that I admit that I got carried away, I just told her that it was revenge for her giggling while Kurt tormented me in the dressing rooms earlier, but we had fun, so it was worth it."

Puck turned to her, his face drawn and serious, "I'll pay you back, Rachel, Quinn is my responsibility."

She shook her head gently and kissed him. "I appreciate that," she replied, "but sometimes it is okay to share responsibility. Besides I want to help. Just consider it a woman's prerogative."

Puck opened his mouth to argue, but was stopped by Isaiah putting a hand on his shoulder, "just go with it son, arguing about that is just a lost cause, especially when the 'woman's prerogative card is thrown."

Puck thought for a second and agreed, "thank you, Rach." His kissed her on the cheek, and focused once more on the game at hand. Rachel snuggled into him and drifted off to sleep.

A/N2: _Special thanks for my beta EJ, those of you who follow my stories, The Only Easy Day is being written as a type. Thank you all for being patient. Please remember to tip your waitress (review)._


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